South Korea and the United States discussed bolstering steps to curb North Korea’s cyberattacks that the two allies say are meant to bankroll the isolated country’s nuclear and missile programs with money earned from activities like hacking. The two-day meeting that ended Tuesday in Washington focused on coordinating policy on sharing information about tactics Pyongyang has been using, such as deploying its overseas information technology workers. They work remotely through freelance platforms to steal cryptocurrencies, among others. The working-level meeting – attended by Lee Jun-il, director general for North Korean nuclear affairs at the Foreign Ministry, and Jung Park, the US deputy special representative for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea – did not publicly disclose specific cases of such activity. “The United States and the ROK are pursuing a wide range of actions to prevent and disrupt DPRK cryptocurrency heists and other cyber-enabled revenue generation; address DPRK cyber espionage against the defense sector; and dismantle DPRK IT worker infrastructure and networks,” the US State Department said in a statement, referring to South Korea’s official name, the Republic of Korea, and that of North Korea, respectively. According to Seoul and Washington, North Korea is believed to have earned an estimated $1.7 billion in 2022 through its tech workers. Joint efforts so far have done little to deter the Kim Jong-un regime from pursuing cyberattacks, with the regime having launched more than 70 ballistic missiles last year. China and Russia have backed Pyongyang when it came to facing United Nations sanctions, a backing that is set to grow bigger. The US contends Russia and the North shook hands on a quid pro quo deal where Moscow restocks munitions from Pyongyang for its war in Ukraine while the North receives weapons technologies like satellites. At the meeting in Washington, Lee and Park vowed to respond sternly to such provocations, saying another attempt to launch a “spy satellite” violates UN sanctions. The North has failed twice to put into orbit what it says is a military reconnaissance satellite. UN sanctions ban the regime from such launches because they use the same technology as ballistic missiles.
S. Korea, US weigh curbs on N. Korea cyberattacks – The Korea Herald
