👊 The U.S. Department of the Treasury takes strong action to combat North Korean cryptocurrency money laundering activities
The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury has recently taken a tough stance, imposing sanctions on two individuals and one entity. These individuals and entities are accused of assisting North Korea in illegal money laundering activities.
Among them, key figure Sim Hyon Sop is pointed out as an agent for North Korean financial institutions, orchestrating money laundering schemes, including establishing shell companies and managing bank accounts to transfer illegal funds.
Additionally, Chinese nationals Lu Huaying and Zhang Jian, residing in the UAE, are accused of acting as agents to facilitate North Korea or its agents since 2022, engaging in money laundering assistance and cryptocurrency conversion services.
Currently, OFAC has placed Lu Huaying, Zhang Jian, and their UAE subsidiary Green Alpine Trading, LLC on the sanctions list, accusing them of supporting Sim's illegal activities.
Bradley Smith, the acting deputy secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, stated that North Korea uses complex criminal schemes to fund its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs. The Treasury will continue to disrupt the networks that provide funding to the North Korean regime and work with the UAE and international partners to continuously combat the financial networks that fund North Korean “destabilizing activities.”
North Korean hackers are accused of conducting large-scale cryptocurrency thefts, causing severe damage to the industry. Related incidents include, in August, ZachXBT reporting its hacking of 25 projects, stealing $1.3 million; in October, North Korean hackers linked to the Lazarus Group exploiting vulnerabilities to steal wallet credentials using fake NFT games; in November, South Korean police confirmed their organization planned a cryptocurrency robbery case in 2019; and recently, Radiant Capital confirmed a $50 million hack on its DeFi platform by a North Korean-related hacker organization in October 2024.
However, in the face of these accusations, North Korea has consistently denied them, claiming that the U.S.'s so-called “destabilizing activities” and “hacks” are baseless accusations and a form of political manipulation by the U.S.
💬 Finally, what are everyone's views on these U.S. sanctions and the allegations against North Korean hackers? Do you think these measures can effectively curb illegal money laundering activities?