- Cryptographic hacking reportedly accounts for 40% of North Korea's weapons program.
- North Korean actors like the Lazarus Group prefer laundering through “mixers.”
According to Yonhap News, a South Korean-based news agency, about 50% of North Korea's foreign currency earnings come from hacking and cryptocurrency abuse.
“The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s malicious cyber operations generate approximately 50 percent of its foreign exchange earnings, which are used to fund its weapons development programs.”
Citing a United Nations report, the media highlighted that crypto-related abuse in the country reached $3 billion from 2017 to 2023. According to the report, 40% of illicit funds are used to develop weapons of mass destruction.
The above report confirms what the US revealed in mid-2023 about North Korea's overseas income from cyber theft. June 2023, Nikkei Asia report Quoting a Biden administration official, he said:
“We are extremely concerned that cryptocurrency theft and cyberattacks are an important source of funding for the Pyongyang regime, and are concerned that approximately 50% of foreign currency revenues come from cybertheft. There is.”
Crypto hacking related to North Korea
The country has been primarily linked to large-scale DeFi hacks in 2022 and 2023. The 2023 Chainalysis report notes that the North Korean-linked Lazarus Group accounted for “US$1.7 billion in crypto hacking in 2022.”
Most of Lazarus Group’s stolen crypto assets are laundered into crypto mixers Yomixfollowing increased regulations for other licensed mixers, Sinbad and Tornado Cash.
Kimski is another North Korea-linked actor cited unfavorably for cryptocurrency exploits at Stake.com and Harmony.
Apart from mixers, these actors prefer Decentralized exchanges, lending protocols, and exchanges, in that order.
According to Arkham Intelligence dataLazarus Group moves $1 million in Bitcoin [BTC] In early January. If such large movements of crypto assets reach the exchange, it may affect the market price.
