US: North Korea Funds Weapons Development Through Cryptocurrency Hacking

[Asia Economy New York=Special Correspondent Joselgina] On the 19th (local time), the U.S. administration under Joe Biden pointed out that North Korea is funding the development of weapons such as ballistic missiles through cybercrime and stated that this must be blocked.

Anne Neuberger, Deputy Assistant to the President for Cyber and Emerging Technologies at the White House National Security Council (NSC), said at a virtual briefing hosted by the New York Foreign Press Club (NYFPC) on the same day, "North Korea relies on cybercrime and other illegal activities to finance its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programs."

Deputy Assistant Neuberger emphasized the U.S. actions taken last week regarding North Korea's malicious cyber activities, mentioning that the Treasury Department recently identified the North Korea-linked hacking group Lazarus as behind the hacking of the blockchain video game 'Axie Infinity' cryptocurrency and added Ethereum wallet addresses connected to them to the sanctions list. The theft was estimated to exceed $600 million, making it the largest cryptocurrency hack in history.

She explained that adding wallet addresses to the sanctions list was intended to freeze the stolen cryptocurrency funds and block related transactions. She also stated, "These cases clearly show the extent of North Korea's illegal use of cryptocurrency through theft and hacking," and urged, "The global anti-money laundering system we have built in the fiat currency world must now be introduced to cryptocurrency as well."

Deputy Assistant Neuberger emphasized that the anti-ransomware measures initiated by the U.S. and others in October last year focus on responding to such illegal uses of cryptocurrency. She explained that this will enable responses to North Korea's hacking cases and others.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.