[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] It has been confirmed that North Korea carried out cyberattacks on cryptocurrency exchanges and COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers.
The interim report of the UN Security Council's Panel of Experts on North Korea Sanctions, released on the 4th (local time), revealed North Korea's various recurring sanction evasion practices and methods.
Based on its own investigations, reports from several member states, and media coverage, the Panel of Experts on North Korea Sanctions compiled this report, which was approved by the Security Council composed of 15 countries.
The panel assessed that North Korea continues to access the international financial network through overseas representatives, joint ventures with China, and virtual assets.
It was judged that North Korea's illegal financial activities were concentrated in East Asia and Southeast Asia, where corporate registration procedures are opaque, enabling evasion of international sanctions.
According to a report from one member state, North Korean bank representatives were stationed in China with 22 personnel, Russia with 6, and one each in Indonesia and Singapore.
North Korea focused spear-phishing attacks targeting employees of cryptocurrency exchanges.
The hacker groups 'Lazarus' and 'Kimsuky,' known to be linked to North Korea's Reconnaissance General Bureau, were again named in the report. They are suspected of carrying out cyberattacks targeting pharmaceutical companies that developed COVID-19 vaccines.
The panel confirmed that the Reuters article reporting North Korean hackers' attempts to hack vaccine manufacturers such as the US pharmaceutical companies Johnson & Johnson and Novavax aligns with the attack techniques and procedures observed in past cases involving Lazarus and others.
Furthermore, North Korea's methods to evade international surveillance are assessed to be continuously becoming more sophisticated.
The report included cases where some oil tankers, even after having their ship registrations canceled, transmitted forged Automatic Identification System (AIS) signals or disguised themselves as other vessels by altering their appearance and ship information while navigating.
The South Korean government reported to the Panel of Experts on North Korea Sanctions that the 'Billions 18,' designated as a target of Security Council sanctions in 2017, disguised itself by transmitting the AIS signal of the Mongolian-flagged ship 'Xiangfa' and entered a domestic port in May, where it was detected, detained, and is currently under investigation.
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