• South Korea announced its first independent sanctions related to cryptocurrency thefts and cyberattacks against specific North Korean groups and individuals.
• Four North Korean individuals and seven businesses have been put on a blacklist for their alleged involvement in cyberattacks and cryptocurrency theft.
• A United Nations report has revealed North Korean hackers stole more crypto assets in 2022 than in any other year, with the amount being between $650 million and $1 billion.
South Korea’s Independent Sanctions Against North Korea
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in South Korea has recently announced its first independent sanctions related to cryptocurrency thefts and cyberattacks against certain North Korean groups and individuals. Four people along with seven businesses were placed on the blacklist for allegedly taking part in stealing cryptocurrencies as well as carrying out various cyber-attacks.
Park Jin-hyok
One of the four named individuals is Park Jin-hyok, an infamous hacker who works with information technology at Chosun Expo Joint Venture. This joint venture is connected to Lazarus Group which is based in North Korea. He was blacklisted by the US Treasury Department back in 2018 due to his activities such as carrying out WannaCry ransomware attack in 2017 as well as Sony Pictures Entertainment’s cyberattack that happened back in 2014.
United Nations Report
A confidential United Nations report uncovered a shocking statistic regarding North Korean hackers stealing crypto assets from 2017 until now; they’ve managed to steal over 1 billion dollars worth of virtual assets, including about 626 million dollars worth of cryptocurrencies only last year (2022). This means that there was an increase seen this year compared to any other years before it.
Purpose Of The Sanctions
The purpose behind these sanctions is mainly to discourage any further attempts from these hacking groups or entities from attempting similar cybercrimes again; this way it can also be used as a form of punishment so that they won’t be able to carry out such activities anymore without facing serious consequences for their actions.
Conclusion
To sum up, South Korea has issued its first ever independent sanctions related to cryptocurrency thefts & cyber-attacks against certain North Korean groups & individuals following a UN report revealing how much money they managed to steal since 2017 until now. These sanctions are meant to discourage future attempts at such crimes while also punishing those who have already committed them