UN: North Korea uses blockchain company to launder money

The U.N. Security Council's North Korea Sanctions Committee has identified businesses in Hong Kong that haveuses the blockchain platform for money laundering for the Pyongyang regime.

According to UN officials, Marine China, a blockchain shipping and logistics company established in the spring of this year, was launched specifically to avoid international sanctions.

The Hong Kong company is supposed to be just one of many firms that launder cryptocurrencies stolen by North Korean hackers in recent years.

According to UN estimates, at least 5,000 international transactions were made using this platform to transfer funds to North Korea.

Recall that according to the monthly report of the CouncilSecurity in November 2019, DPRK hackers stole cryptocurrencies worth more than 2 billion US dollars and this money “represents a significant part of the DPRK’s revenue stream”

The UN notes that attackers from the DPRKcarry out cyber attacks on financial institutions and infrastructure. The country also engages in illegal cryptocurrency transfers and money laundering, allowing the government to evade Western sanctions. 

In addition, according to Western media reports, North Korean hackers use phishing attacks, malware and shell companies to steal cryptocurrencies.

The UN Security Council Committee notes:

A total of seventeen countries have been targeted by North Korean phishing over the past three years.

The DPRK government denies all accusationsUN. Along with this, the country has begun to develop its own cryptocurrency, which will help avoid international sanctions and “bypass the global financial system, which is dominated by the United States”.