Just recently, hackers from the Lazarus group made headlines with a series of large cryptocurrency transactions. With the total haul from their cyber theft estimated at €3 billion since 2017, the United Nations (UN) has investigated the methods and purpose of these hacker attacks, which are believed to have originated in North Korea.
58 suspected North Korean cyberattacks
As Reuters reports, UN sanctions inspectors will soon publish details of their investigation into hacker attacks allegedly supported by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). North Korea has been under sanctions from the supranational organisation since 2006, because the UN Security Council has banned it from carrying out nuclear tests and firing ballistic missiles. And it would appear that it is precisely in order to finance its nuclear programme that the cryptocurrency thefts are being organised.
"The group [of UN inspectors] is investigating 58 alleged cyberattacks by the DPRK against crypto-currency-related businesses between 2017 and 2023. With a total value of around €3 billion, these attacks are believed to help fund the DPRK's development of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) (...) which has continued to flout Security Council sanctions. (...) The DPRK has continued to develop nuclear weapons and produce nuclear fissile material, although its last known nuclear test took place in 2017."
According to the UN inspectors, hackers like those of the Lazarus Group are a kind of specialised intelligence agents, attached to North Korea's General Reconnaissance Office. According to the sanctions inspectors, the "alleged" North Korean cyberattacks (which Pyongyang has always denied) are targeting "defence companies and supply chains".
While some members of the UN Security Council, principally the United States, would like to strengthen these sanctions, which seem to lack effectiveness, two other members - China and Russia - would prefer, on the contrary, to relax the sanctions in an attempt to normalise relations with the DPRK, in the hope of "resuming talks on denuclearisation". In short, favouring dialogue and positive incentives seems to be a more effective approach to dealing with North Korea, given the ineffectiveness of the tough sanctions imposed over the last 20 years. Despite the UN ban on the sale of luxury goods, these products are still circulating in North Korea, illustrating the limits of restrictive measures.
