S. KOREA, U.S. SANCTION N. KOREAN BANKER

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For the first time, a North Korean individual involved in laundering cryptocurrencies through illegal cyber activities has been designated for joint sanctions by South Korea and the United States. The individual, identified as Sim Hyon-sop, is affiliated with a North Korean bank and is known to be involved in funding North Korea's weapons of mass destruction.

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Seoul's foreign ministry announced Monday that South Korea and the U.S. simultaneously imposed sanctions on a North Korean individual working for the North's Korea Kwangson Banking Corporation. Sim Hyon-sop is accused of opening borrowed-name bank accounts and laundering money while staying in overseas countries illegally. He is said to have laundered hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal funds, including cryptocurrency, earned by North Korean hackers staying abroad with false identities. The ministry said Sim also provided financial support to the hackers. Seoul believes the illegal funds were used by North Korea to produce weapons of mass destruction, such as nuclear weapons and missiles. The UN Security Council already slapped sanctions on Korea Kwangson Banking Corporation in March, 2016. This marks the first time Seoul and Washington simultaneously placed sanctions against the same target in cyberspace. This move indicates their determination to block North Korea's illicit cyber activities through which the regime earns foreign currencies to finance its nuclear and missile programs. The U.S. Treasury Department also placed sanctions on Sim and two other people. The two are accused of being involved in exchanging cryptocurrency stolen by North Korean hackers into money in China and Hong Kong. The South Korean and U.S. governments said that with the help of private sector experts, they have blocked most of the borrowed-name accounts owned by North Korean IT workers and retrieved part of their illicit funds. The ministry said it will further strengthen cooperation with the U.S. and other allies to cut off North Korea's illicit cyber activities and channels to earn foreign currencies.