The U.S. Department of State and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea (ROK) co-hosted a joint symposium titled "Protecting the Virtual Asset Industry from DPRK Exploitation and Disrupting DPRK Revenue Generation" in New York City on August 27, 2024. This event is part of ongoing efforts to curb the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) attempts to earn revenue for its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs, which violate multiple UN Security Council resolutions.
The DPRK continues to support the development of its WMD and ballistic missile programs by obscuring the movement of hundreds of millions of dollars in stolen cryptocurrency through virtual asset service providers (VASPs) such as cryptocurrency exchanges, bridges, mixers, and other related blockchain-enabled platforms globally. According to the March 2024 report by the UN DPRK Sanctions Committee Panel of Experts, DPRK cyber actors stole approximately $3 billion in virtual assets between 2017 and 2023. The United States and ROK convened this event to enhance global government capabilities and private sector collaboration in disrupting DPRK revenue generation and laundering activities involving virtual assets.
Participants included government officials and private sector experts from centralized VASPs, decentralized financial platforms, blockchain analysis services, venture capital firms, and other industry stakeholders representing more than 40 countries. During the event, global industry leaders and experts from the U.S. and ROK governments provided updates on current trends in DPRK virtual asset thefts and laundering activities, information on DPRK cyber threats to VASPs, and guidance on how industry and government can collaborate more effectively to identify and halt DPRK virtual asset heists.
