US takes flurry of steps to disrupt N. Korea's illicit revenue generation

Korea Herald

3 days ago

The United States announced a package of actions Thursday to disrupt North Korea's illicit schemes to generate revenue for its nuclear and missile programs, including offering rewards for North Koreans involved in the schemes, and sanctioning a North Korean firm and associated people.
The move came although US President Donald Trump has signaled his openness to reengaging with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, raising speculation that he could seek to resume his personal diplomacy, which led to three in-person meetings between him and Kim during his first term.
The Trump administration described the move as a "whole-of-government" effort that involved an array of organizations, including the Department of State, Justice and the Treasury.
The State Department said its Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program is offering rewards totaling up to $15 million for information leading to arrests or convictions of seven North Koreans -- Sim Hyon-sop and six co-conspirators.
Sim and the others were charged for their role in illicit activities to buy and sell tobacco from North Korea to gain access to US dollars, according to the department.
The reward offers include an increase of up to $7 million for Sim, up to $3 million each for Myong Chol-min and Kim Se-un, and up to $500,000 each for Kim Yong-bok, Kim Chol-min, Ri Tong-min and Ri Won-ho.
Sim and some of his co-conspirators, including Kim Se-un, have also been involved in illicit information technology IT worker schemes. The North is thought to have sent thousands of IT workers abroad to orchestrate fraudulent IT work, often to Russia and China, the department said.
The department stressed that the North's revenue generation schemes, including cryptocurrency theft, trafficking in counterfeit goods, oil smuggling, and other transnational criminal activities, often target US companies and US citizens to raise funds for Pyongyang's weapons programs that threaten the US homeland and stand in breach of UN and US sanctions.
"Today's actions illustrate the US government's commitment to mitigating such threats posed by North Korea to protect US companies, the US financial system, and American citizens," the department said. "The United States will not stand idly by while North Korea profits from criminal activity to fund its destabilizing actions."
In a coordinated move, the Treasury Department sanctioned the North's Korea Sobaeksu Trading Company and three associated individuals -- Kim Se-un, Jo Kyong-hun and Myong -- for their involvement in the evasion of US and UN sanctions and efforts to generate revenue clandestinely for Pyongyang, including through IT worker schemes.
"The DPRK relies on front companies like Korea Sobaesku Trading Company and key facilitators to procure materials and generate revenue for the regime's illegal nuclear and ballistic missile programs," Bradley Smith, the director of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, said.
"Our commitment is clear: Treasury, as part of a whole-of-government effort, will continue to hold accountable those who seek to infiltrate global supply chains and enable the sanctions evasion activities that further the Kim regime's destabilizing agenda."
Alongside the Treasury and State Departments, the Justice Department unsealed indictments against seven North Koreans for it called the criminal avoidance of sanctions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act involving the illicit trafficking of counterfeit cigarettes.
Asked if Thursday's actions signaled that diplomacy with Pyongyang would be difficult for the time being, a State Department spokesperson pointed out the recalcitrant regime's advancing military threats to the US and its allies, and reaffirmed the US' commitment to the "complete denuclearization" of the North.
"North Korea continues to advance its destabilizing weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs in violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions. These programs pose a threat to America, our allies, and partners, and undermine security in the region," the spokesperson told Yonhap News Agency via email.
"We continue to consult closely with the Republic of Korea, Japan, and other allies and partners to deter North Korean aggression. Our commitments to the defense of the Republic of Korea and Japan are ironclad," the official added, referring to South Korea by its official name.
The spokesperson also recalled attention to Trump's diplomacy with the North during his first term, saying it resulted in the first leader-level commitment from the North to denuclearize. (Yonhap)