Written by Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – North Korea stole $147.5 million through cryptocurrency platform Tornado Cash in March after stealing from cryptocurrency exchanges last year, according to confidential documents from U.N. sanctions monitors seen by Reuters on Tuesday. was washed.
In a filing Friday, observers told the U.N. Security Council Sanctions Committee that between 2017 and 2024, there were 97 suspected North Korean cyberattacks against crypto companies, totaling about 3.6 billion yen. He said he was investigating the dollar.
This included an attack late last year that stole $147.5 million from the HTX cryptocurrency exchange before being laundered in March of this year, observers said. He told the committee, citing information from chain research firm Elliptic.
In 2024 alone, the watchdog said it had monitored “11 crypto thefts…totaling $54.7 million,” much of it “by North Korean IT personnel mistakenly employed by small crypto companies.” It may have been done,” he added.
Observers said North Korea's IT talent working abroad generates “substantial income for the country,” according to UN member states and private companies.
North Korea, officially known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), has been under UN sanctions since 2006, and measures have been tightened over the years to reduce funding for its ballistic missile and nuclear programs. It's here.
North Korea's mission to the United Nations in New York did not respond to requests for comment.
The United States imposed sanctions on Tornado Cash in 2022 over accusations that it supports North Korea. Two of the co-founders were indicted in 2023 on charges of aiding and abetting more than $1 billion in money laundering involving cybercrime groups linked to North Korea.
Lawyers for Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm, who pleaded not guilty to U.S. charges in September, did not respond to a request for comment.
So-called crypto “mixer” platforms, such as Tornado Cash, take the cryptocurrencies of many users and mash them together to help hide the source and ownership of the funds.
The UN sanctions monitor was disbanded at the end of April after Russia vetoed the annual renewal of its mandate. Some of the observers submitted unfinished work, which was shared with the council's North Korea sanctions committee on Friday.
Traditionally, a Sanctions Monitoring Committee report must first be agreed upon by all eight members. The unfinished work submitted to the committee did not go through that process.
On February 6, observers said Russia released $9 million of North Korea's $30 million in frozen assets and allowed North Korea to open an account in a Russian bank in South Ossetia to give it easier access. He said he was investigating a report in the New York Times. international banking network.
illegal weapons, coal
Observers also said vessels suspected of being involved in the arms trade between North Korea and Russia continued to voyage laden with containers between the North Korean port of Rajin and Russian ports, including Vladivostok and Vostochny. Stated.
Sanctions monitors said a particular ship, called the Angara, had been docked at the Chinese port of Ningbo since February and may have been undergoing maintenance there. Reuters reported that China had provided the ship with a berth.
The Russian mission to the United Nations in New York declined to comment on the monitors' activities. China's mission to the United Nations did not respond to requests for comment.
The United States and other countries have accused North Korea of transferring weapons to Russia for use in its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Moscow and North Korea deny the accusations but vowed last year to deepen military ties.
In a separate report last month, the United Nations sanctions monitor told the Security Council that missile fragments that landed in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on January 2 were from North Korea's Hwasong-11 ballistic missile. reported.
The United Nations Security Council banned North Korea's exports, including coal, iron, lead, textiles and seafood, and restricted imports of crude oil and refined petroleum products.
“North Korea and its intermediaries continue to evade sanctions through maritime means, including North Korea's continued acquisition of ships, refined oil imports, including ship-to-ship transfers, and coal exports,” the observers wrote. There is.
Observers said they were investigating information from an anonymous member state about 208 voyages by North Korean cargo ships to unload coal in China's coastal waters, most of which may have been via ship-to-ship transfers. He added that it is expensive.
“Chinese Coast Guard vessels were spotted on several occasions in close proximity to North Korean vessels suspected of unloading coal in Chinese waters,” the observers wrote.
China's mission to the United Nations did not respond to requests for comment.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Don Durfee and Deepa Babington)
