U.S. Sanctions Target North Korean IT Scheme: Unmasking a $17M Cyber Fraud

In a bold move to counter North Korea’s illicit financial operations, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned Korea Sobaeksu Trading Company and three individuals—Kim Se Un, Jo Kyong Hun, and Myong Chol Min—for orchestrating a fraudulent IT worker scheme. This operation, designed to bypass U.S. and U.N. sanctions, has funneled millions into Pyongyang’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs. By infiltrating over 300 U.S. companies with fake IT workers, the scheme generated an estimated $17 million in illicit revenue, highlighting the growing sophistication of North Korean cyber operations. The sanctions underscore the U.S. government’s commitment to disrupting these covert revenue streams that fuel the Kim regime’s destabilizing agenda.

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