- OFAC and the UAE collaborated to impose sanctions on actors involved in North Korea’s illicit crypto asset laundering network.
- Sanctions target two individuals and one UAE-based entity aiding DPRK’s WMD and ballistic missile programs.
- These efforts aim to disrupt North Korea’s financial operations, supporting destabilizing activities.
In close coordination with the UAE Government, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned two individuals and a UAE-based front company to provide assistance in North Korea’s crypto laundering schemes supporting Pyongyang’s WMD and ballistic missile programs.
The sanctions target Lu Huaying and Zhang Jian, both UAE-based Chinese nationals, along with Green Alpine Trading, LLC. The network is connected to DPRK agent Sim Hyon Sop, already designated under U.S. and UN sanctions for orchestrating financial schemes to support North Korea’s regime.
Laundering Millions Through Crypto Assets
Lu Huaying is accused of laundering several millions of dollars in fiat currency from the revenue-generating projects of DPRK’s from early 2022 until September 2023. Zhang Jian, another key player, is accused of facilitating currency exchanges and acting as a courier for Sim Hyon Sop. Green Alpine Trading, LLC was used as a key conduit to transmit funds to North Korea.
These activities are further evidence of the continued use by the DPRK of crypto assets, fraudulent IT work, and money laundering in order to finance its WMD ambitions. Such operations further underscore growing ties between Pyongyang and international players-destabilizing implications that well surpass the Asian continent.
Implications of the Sanctions
The sanctions freeze all U.S.-linked assets of the designated individuals and entities, prohibit all transactions with them by U.S. persons and institutions, and impose additional blocking and reporting obligations on U.S. persons and institutions. Those who violate the sanctions may face enforcement actions, including secondary sanctions.
OFAC emphasized that these actions should not be punitive but a means to change behavior. This action, taken in coordination with the UAE, represents a broader international commitment to impair the illicit North Korean financial regime and, with it, its destabilizing behavior.
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