UN Reveals North Korean Abuses: Hundreds Of Million Dollars Of Virtual Asset Theft To Illegal Oil Imports

Illustration of a ballistic missile belonging to North Korea. (Source: North Korea Central News Agency - KCNA)

JAKARTA - An expert panel under the UN Security Council committee in a report revealed that North Korea has openly continued to violate UN Security Council resolutions over the past year.

One of the highlights is the theft of virtual assets worth more than 300 million United States (US) dollars, to support the illegal development of weapons of mass destruction.

"The Panel continues to assess that cyber actors associated with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea continue to carry out operations against financial institutions and virtual currency exchange institutions by 2020, to generate revenue to support weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs," the report said. launch Koreatimes, Thursday, March 1.

The report added that one UN member state estimated the value of virtual assets stolen by North Korea between 2019 and November 2020 at a value of US $ 316.4 million.

In addition, a panel of experts from the UN Security Council also revealed that some of the dangerous cyber activities carried out by the country are led by the General Reconnaissance Bureau, North Korea's military intelligence agency.

"In August 2020, the United States identified a new cyber threat group, 'BeagleBoyz', an element of the General Bureau of Reconnaissance that has likely been active since 2014, and attributed the 2016 Bank of Bangladesh theft to this group in a public cybersecurity threat alert," said the report.

In fact, it is said that the US has suspected the threat of North Korean cyber groups of trying to steal nearly 2 billion US dollars since 2015.

The next violation in the spotlight is illegal oil imports by North Korea, where there are a number of illegal oil imports to North Korea that exceed the limit set of 500 thousand barrels.

"According to imagery, data and calculations received from Member States covering the period from January 1 to September 30, in 2020 these illegal shipments have several times exceeded the annual aggregate limit of 500 thousand barrels," the report said.

"Several Member States assessed that imports of oil-related products to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea are likely to become a larger volume in 2020. This is partly due to the acquisition of new and larger third-country flagged vessels," the report added.

And, the report also said, North Korea is also said to continue to develop and improve its weapons of mass destruction.

"In addition, they produce fissile material, maintain nuclear facilities, and upgrade its ballistic missile infrastructure. The country continues to seek materials and technology for these programs from abroad," the report said.

North Korea has maintained a self-imposed moratorium on long-range nuclear and missile testing, although it stated in early 2020 that it was no longer bound by the restrictions.

Last week, North Korea tested a short-range ballistic missile towards the East Sea. Meanwhile, US and South Korean intelligence are watching the Sinpo shipyard, anticipating news of the launch of a new submarine capable of carrying large-scale ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads.