The White House announced on Friday night that top national security officials from the U.S., South Korea, and Japan met in Seoul to discuss the challenges posed by North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, as well as its cyberattacks on the cryptocurrency industry.
U.S., South Korean, and Japanese National Security Advisors discussed trilateral initiatives, including consulting on regional crises, cooperation on ballistic missile defense, and efforts to counter North Korea’s use of cryptocurrency to fund weapons of mass destruction programs.
The statement also said that the three officials discussed North Korea’s ties with Russia, which have been growing amid the tensions between Pyongyang and Washington.
North Korea’s Crypto Heists Under Scrutiny
North Korea has been accused of stealing billions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency from various projects and platforms in the past few years, using sophisticated hacking techniques and tools. The U.S. government has attributed some of these cyberattacks to the Lazarus Group, a notorious hacking group linked to the North Korean regime.
Last year, the Lazarus Group allegedly stole over $600 million from Ronin Bridge, a blockchain network that connects the popular online game Axie Infinity to the Ethereum network.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on several entities and individuals that it claims have helped North Korea launder the stolen cryptocurrency.
Last week, OFAC added two crypto addresses associated with the Sinbad mixer, which mixes cryptocurrency transactions to hide their origins and destinations. Law enforcement agencies also seized Sinbad’s website from several countries.
OFAC has also blacklisted various wallet addresses and individuals from the global financial system, alleging that they have supported North Korea’s efforts to use the stolen digital assets to finance its WMD programs.
One of the most notable targets of OFAC’s sanctions was Tornado Cash, a privacy tool that allows users to anonymize their Ethereum transactions. OFAC claimed that more than $100 million in stolen cryptocurrency had passed through the service.
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