The UN Security Council Sanctions Committee on North Korea accused the country of money launderingthrough the Hong Kong blockchain company Marine China.
The committee conducted an investigation based on which it accused North Korea of applying various cryptocurrency strategies to evade international sanctions.
According to the UN, the Hong Kong company MarineChina, which uses blockchain technology in the shipping and logistics industry, was created by participants from North Korea, and its owner and sole investor — Julian Kim, working under the pseudonym Tony Walker. In addition, the Committee has suspicions that Kim appointed his own man as the head of the company, who several times tried to withdraw money in cash from Singapore banks.
The UN said that with the help of Marine ChinaNorth Korea made about 5,000 international transactions with stolen cryptocurrencies to complicate source tracking. The committee insists that hackers from North Korea used phishing attacks and malware to steal cryptocurrencies.
It is important to note that the harsh sanctions of the UN and otherinternational authorities regarding North Korea are literally “pushing” the country to use cryptocurrencies. In September, the North Korean government announced it was developing its own stablecoin with characteristics similar to Bitcoin. That same month, the country denied UN accusations of numerous hacks into financial companies, banks and cryptocurrency exchanges to steal cryptocurrencies for weapons development.
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