North Korea: Stolen cryptos fund country’s missile programmes, says UN report

North Korea underwent several cyber attacks through which millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency was stolen to fund the country’s missile programmes, claimed a UN report. Investigators found that between 2020 and mid-2021 cyber-attackers stole over $50 million ($37 million) of digital assets.

Further, they consider such attacks to be “important revenue source” for Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile programme. The findings were handed over to the UN’s sanctions committee on Friday.

The cyber-attacks targeted three crypto exchanges in North America, Europe, and Asia.

The UN report referred to a study published last month by Chainalysis, a crypto-security firm suggesting that North Korean cyberattacks could have fetched as much as $400 million worth of digital assets last year. Besides, in 2019, the UN reported that North Korea has gathered approximately $2 billion for its weapons of mass destruction programmes by using advanced cyber-attacks.

Notably, UN Security Council has banned North Korea from carrying out nuclear tests and introducing ballistic missiles. However, North Korea continues developing its nuclear and ballistic missile infrastructure. It has continued to seek material, technology, and know-how overseas, including through cyber means and joint scientist research.

The sanctions monitors said that had been a “marked acceleration” of missile testing by Pyongyang.

The US on Friday stated that North Korea formally known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) – conducted nine missile tests last month.

“DPRK demonstrated increased capabilities for rapid deployment, wide mobility (including at sea), and improved resilience of its missile forces,” the sanctions monitors said.

On Friday, China and Russia refused to sign a statement condemning the proliferation of North Korea’s missile launches.

The US announced on Sunday that its special representatives for North Korea would meet Japanese and South Korean officials later this week to discuss the situation.

The report further suggested that the humanitarian situation in North Korea is worsening due to the country’s decision to close its borders during the pandemic. Besides, the lack of information from North Korea suggested that it was hard to determine how much suffering was being caused by international sanctions.