Bloomberg News reported on May 7 (local time) that North Korea's malicious cyber activities, including virtual asset hacking, may be included on the agenda at the upcoming Group of Seven (G7) summit to be held in Canada next month.
According to sources cited by Bloomberg, there are concerns that funds stolen through North Korea's cyber operations are being used as a major financial source for the Kim Jong Un regime and its (nuclear and missile) programs. However, they added that the G7 summit agenda has not yet been finalized. The sources also stated that other likely agenda items include the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as trade conflicts between the United States and other G7 countries.
Bloomberg assessed that this reflects growing global concerns over the increasing number of North Korean virtual asset hacking crimes.
Previously, in February, North Korean hacking group Lazarus stole Ethereum worth $1.46 billion (approximately 2 trillion won) from the virtual asset exchange Bybit. This is the largest cyber theft incident to date. In 2024, North Korea stole a total of $1.34 billion through 47 attacks, while in 2023, it stole $661 million through 20 attacks, indicating a growing scale of North Korean virtual asset theft. Bloomberg reported that such illicit funds are used to circumvent international sanctions and finance cyber operations, including the development of weapons of mass destruction.
Bloomberg also pointed out that the issue of North Korea disguising its IT workforce to gain employment overseas, including in the United States, is serious. These individuals secure IT jobs under false identities and remit their earnings back to North Korea.
Recently, cryptocurrency exchange Kraken revealed that a hacker of North Korean nationality applied during its engineer recruitment process.
In January, the U.S. Department of Justice stated that North Korea dispatches thousands of IT personnel to countries such as China and Russia and has them work as freelancers in the United States and elsewhere. Through this, North Korea earns up to $300,000 per person annually, securing hundreds of millions of dollars every year. These funds are used by the North Korean Ministry of Defense or institutions related to weapons of mass destruction programs. At the end of last year, the U.S. State Department offered a reward of up to $5 million for information related to North Korean IT companies based in China and Russia that are involved in dispatching North Korean IT workers overseas and money laundering activities.
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