South Korea and the United States announced Monday unilateral sanctions on a North Korean individual involved in the financing of Pyongyang’s weapons of mass destruction programs through illegal cyber activities, Seoul’s foreign ministry said.
The two countries added Sim Hyon-sop, an official of Korea Kwangson Banking Corp., to their respective sanctions lists.
It marks the first time Seoul and Washington have simultaneously imposed independent sanctions on the same target in the cyber sector.
The ministry said Sim was involved in the financing of the North’s nuclear and missile development programs through illicit financial activities, including creating borrowed-name bank accounts and money laundering.
Sim laundered illegal funds worth millions of dollars, including cryptocurrency, earned by North Korean tech workers staying abroad illegally with false identities, and provided them with financial support, it said.
The U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions against Korea Kwangson Banking Corp. in 2016.
“To block North Korea’s illicit activities to earn foreign currency, such as cyber activities, our government will further strengthen coordination with friendly countries, such as the U.S., and the private sector,” the ministry said.
Seoul and Washington have recently stepped up cooperation against North Korea’s cyber threats. The allies held the third round of working-level talks on ways to block Pyongyang’s illegal cyber activities in March.
The latest move marks Seoul’s sixth unilateral sanctions against Pyongyang since the launch of the Yoon Suk Yeol government in May last year.
Source: Yonhap News Agency