Japan-U.S.-South Korea talks discuss North Korea’s crypto asset theft | CoinDesk JAPAN

National security officials from Japan, the United States and South Korea discussed North Korea’s crypto theft and other efforts to advance its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The White House announced this on the night of the 8th.

National security officials discuss

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, South Korean National Security Office Director Cho Tae-young, and Japan’s National Security Director Takeo Akiba meet in Seoul, South Korea, and discuss the mass destruction being carried out by North Korea and North Korea. They discussed various issues including weapons programs.

The statement said, “National security officials have confirmed their commitment to discuss regional crises, the sharing of ballistic missile defense data, and North Korea’s use of crypto assets to generate revenue for its illicit weapons of mass destruction program.” “We reviewed progress on a wide range of trilateral initiatives, including joint efforts to address the

The three officials also discussed North Korea’s relationship with Russia, the statement said.

Governments are paying attention to theft by North Korea

North Korea’s theft of billions of dollars worth of crypto assets from various projects in the industry has drawn the attention of government agencies around the world. The US government said the Lazarus Group, a notorious hacking organization with ties to North Korea, stole $600 million (approximately 87 billion yen, equivalent to 145 yen to the dollar) from Axie Infinity’s Ronin bridge last year. He claimed to have stolen more than that.

The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has sanctioned multiple mixers for use in transferring funds stolen by North Korean hackers. Last week, OFAC added two crypto addresses associated with mixer Sinbad to sanctions. Law enforcement authorities from multiple countries also jointly seized Sinbad’s website.

OFAC also banned various wallet addresses and individuals from the dollar-based global financial system for supporting North Korea’s efforts to launder stolen funds for use in its weapons program.

In the most famous case, OFAC sanctioned privacy tool Tornado Cash, alleging that more than $100 million worth of stolen crypto assets were leaked through its mixer service.

Two of the project’s developers, Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev, are currently facing charges in the United States and the Netherlands, respectively, for their work with Tornado Cash. A third developer, Roman Semenov, was charged with money laundering and sanctions violations, but has not yet been arrested.

Mr. Storm is scheduled to go on trial next year.

｜Translation and editing: Rinan Hayashi
｜Image: Shutterstock
｜Original text: US, South Korea, Japan Discuss North Korean Crypto Thefts in Trilateral Meeting