U.S. imposes new sanctions on North Korean individuals following cryptocurrency scheme
Published: 28 Aug. 2025, 14:09
Updated: 29 Aug. 2025, 10:34
![A sign marks the U.S Treasury Department in Washington on Aug. 6, 2018. [REUTERS/YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/08/29/a35bd35e-3199-4c41-9cb4-b7ce7174a5de.jpg)
A sign marks the U.S Treasury Department in Washington on Aug. 6, 2018. [REUTERS/YONHAP]
The U.S. Treasury on Wednesday imposed new sanctions on North Korean and Russian individuals as well as companies accused of helping Pyongyang earn illicit revenue through overseas information technology workers.
Coming just two days after a summit between President Lee Jae Myung and U.S. President Donald Trump, the move underscores Washington's growing alarm over North Korea's cyber operations.
The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that it sanctioned two individuals and two entities for their involvement in plans orchestrated by Pyongyang's IT workers.
The sanctioned individuals include Kim Ung-sun, an economic and trade officer at North Korea’s consulate in Russia and Vitaliy Sergeyevich Andreyev, a Russian national who facilitated financial transactions.
U.S. authorities said the two had collaborated since December last year to convert cryptocurrency earned by North Korean IT workers into U.S. dollars.
They allegedly transferred nearly $600,000 to North Korea in several installments.
The sanctioned entities include Korea Sinjin Trading Corporation, a firm affiliated with the General Political Bureau of the North Korean military and Shenyang Geumpungri Network Technology, a Chinese front company for North Korea’s Chinyong Information Technology Cooperation Company.
IT workers under the Chinese company's cover generated more than $1 million in revenue since 2021, funneling funds back to Pyongyang, according to OFAC.
![North Korean people, officers and soldiers of the Korean People's Army pay respect to the statues of former North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il on Mansu Hill in Pyongyang, North Korea, on July 8, on the occasion of the 31st anniversary of demise of Kim Il Sung. [AP/YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/08/29/d45e9f1b-18f8-4398-abeb-eba075d376cc.jpg)
North Korean people, officers and soldiers of the Korean People's Army pay respect to the statues of former North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il on Mansu Hill in Pyongyang, North Korea, on July 8, on the occasion of the 31st anniversary of demise of Kim Il Sung. [AP/YONHAP]
Sanctions from the Treasury Department effectively bar targeted individuals and organizations from any economic activity in the United States or transactions involving U.S. persons. Anyone conducting business with them also risks becoming a sanctions target.
“The North Korean regime continues to target American businesses through fraud schemes involving its overseas IT workers who steal data and demand ransom,” said John Hurley, Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, through OFAC's press release.
“Under President Trump, Treasury is committed to protecting Americans from these schemes and holding the guilty accountable.”
Washington has grown increasingly concerned about North Korea's use of overseas IT professionals to earn hard currency.
The governments of South Korea, the United States and Japan released a joint statement Thursday condemning Pyongyang's tactics.
"North Korea continues to dispatch its IT workers around the world to generate revenue, which funds its unlawful weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programs, in violation of UN Security Council resolutions (UNSCRs). The United States, Japan and the ROK express serious concerns over the evolving malicious activities of North Korean IT workers," the statement read.
The three countries pledged to strengthen trilateral coordination and expand public-private cooperation "to counter malicious cyber activities and illicit revenue generation by North Korea."
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY LEE SEUNG-HO [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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