Suspected North Korean Collaboration... Japanese Police Transfer Two Japanese Nationals for Illegal Account Opening Charges

"Approximately 160 Million Won Flowed to a Person Presumed to Be from North Korea"

Japanese police have sent two Japanese men to prosecutors for improperly opening foreign exchange trading accounts in collusion with a person suspected to be a North Korean information technology (IT) technician, local media including Mainichi Shimbun and Sankei Shimbun reported on the 7th.

Japan Foreign Exchange Status Board.
Photo by AFP Yonhap News

According to the investigation by the Shizuoka Prefectural Police, the two colluded with a person believed to be a North Korean IT technician in January 2021 to create foreign exchange margin trading (FX) accounts. Foreign exchange margin trading refers to trading foreign exchange after depositing a margin.

The person suspected to be North Korean, located in Russia, instructed Mr. A, who has experience in trade with North Korea, to open the accounts, and Mr. A asked another Japanese man, Mr. B, to create the accounts. The suspected North Korean individual, having received the account information through Mr. A, used an automated trading system prohibited by Japanese securities companies to generate profits.

Japanese police have identified that 16 people, including Mr. B, improperly opened accounts in this case, and estimate that about 30% of the total profit of approximately 17 million yen (about 160 million KRW) flowed to the suspected North Korean individual.

However, it is reported that Mr. A and Mr. B stated they were unaware that the automated trading system was prohibited.

Mainichi reported, "The police view this transaction as part of North Korea's foreign currency acquisition operations."

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