The US Department of Justice (DoJ) unveiled two indictments against Sim Hyon Sop, a representative of North Korea’s Foreign Trade Bank, for laundering stolen cryptocurrency. Sim allegedly conducted operations with the help of over-the-counter (OTC) traders to convert stolen digital assets and transfer them to North Korea for funding its weapons development and production, as reported by the DoJ press release on Monday, April 24th.

The Assistant Attorney General, Kenneth A. Polite, Jr., commented on this discovery highlighting North Korea's 'innovative' attempts to evade sanctions and affirmed that the DoJ is dedicated in its pursuit to identify and terminate such actions. Three other individuals have been accused by the DoJ of aiding Sim in his money laundering activity, two of them from North Korea, who have also been sanctioned by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

DPRK has appeared to be a major actor in the cryptocurrency cat-and-mouse game, using a wide variety of strategies and types of attacks to steal digital assets amounting to more than $600 million. Reports from the United Nations show that in 2022, North Korea stole around $1 billion worth of digital assets, twice as much as the amount stolen in 2021.

In light of such events, various organizations worldwide have taken steps to combat and obstruct such malicious acts. One such instance is the US sanctioning a cryptocurrency mixer called Tornado Cash, an organization which facilitates individuals to deposit and withdraw private funds. On the same note, an advocacy group, Coin Center, has argued that the mixer is an open-source software and hence both protected by the Constitution and unable to be sanctioned under the legal framework.

This development with Sim in particular and OFAC-issued sanctions more generally, bring to light that the US takes seriously its efforts to curb DPRK’s illicit activities. Ultimately, this may be the start of tangible and lasting changes that we have yet to witness.



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