"Blocking Foreign Currency Earnings"... Ministry of Foreign Affairs and US Treasury Discuss Measures to Respond to North Korea

Director Kim Geon meets with Deputy Minister Nelson for Terrorism and Financial Information
Also holds meeting with Google... Responding to North Korea's illegal cyber attacks

On the 13th (local time), Kim Geon, Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Office for Peace and Security on the Korean Peninsula, met with Brian Nelson, Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at the U.S. Department of the Treasury in Washington DC, to strengthen bilateral cooperation in response to North Korea's illegal cyber activities.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 14th, Head Kim evaluated the close cooperation between South Korea and the U.S. in designating individuals and organizations involved in North Korea's illegal cyber activities as targets of independent sanctions in April and May, respectively, and proposed expanding the scope of cooperation to include the international community and the private sector.

Kim Geon, Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Office for Peace Negotiations on the Korean Peninsula, met with Brian Nelson, U.S. Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, on the 13th (local time)
[Photo by Ministry of Foreign Affairs]

In particular, the two agreed that behind North Korea's continued development of nuclear weapons and missiles despite severe economic difficulties were activities such as virtual asset theft and foreign currency earning in the IT (Information Technology) sector. Under Secretary Nelson oversees the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) at the Treasury Department, which operates the U.S. independent sanctions program.

Additionally, Head Kim held a meeting with Google and Mandiant, a cybersecurity company under Google, on the same day. He repeatedly emphasized that North Korea's comprehensive cyberattacks not only cause property damage to individuals and companies but also pose a serious threat to the entire global IT ecosystem.

Head Kim also highly praised Mandiant for raising international awareness through its April report analyzing the main targets and attack methods of North Korea's hacking group 'Kimsuky,' and both sides reaffirmed their commitment to closely cooperate in responding to North Korea's cyber threats going forward.