U.S., South Korea, Japan Discuss North Korean Crypto Thefts in Trilateral Meeting

National
security
officials
with
the
U.S.,
South
Korean
and
Japanese
governments
discussed
North
Korea’s
crypto
thefts
and
other
efforts
to
work
on
its
nuclear
and
ballistic
missile
programs,
the
White
House
announced
Friday
night.

U.S.
National
Security
Advisor
Jake
Sullivan,
Republic
of
Korea
National
Security
Advisor
Cho
Tae-Yong
and
Japan
National
Security
Advisor
Takeo
Akiba
met
in
Seoul,
South
Korea
to
discuss
various
issues,
including
the
Democratic
People’s
Republic
of
Korea
(DPRK,
the
official
name
for
North
Korea)
and
its
ongoing
weapons
of
mass
destruction
program,

a
White
House
readout
said.

“The
National
Security
Advisors
reviewed
progress
on
a
wide
range
of
trilateral
initiatives,
including
the
Commitment
to
Consult
on
regional
crises,
the
sharing
of
ballistic
missile
defense
data,
and
our
collective
efforts
to
respond
to
the
DPRK’s
use
of
cryptocurrency
to
generate
revenue
for
its
illicit
WMD
programs,”
the
readout
said.

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

North
Korea’s
theft
of
billions
of
dollars’
worth
of
crypto
from
various
projects
in
the
industry
have
drawn
attention
from
various
government
entities.
The
U.S.
government
alleged
that
Lazarus
Group,
a
notorious
hacking
entity
tied
to
the
DPRK,

stole
over
$600
million
from
Axie
Infinity’s
Ronin
Bridge
last
year.

The
U.S.
Treasury
Department’s
Office
of
Foreign
Asset
Control
(OFAC)
has
sanctioned
multiple
mixers
it
alleged
North
Korean
hackers
used
to
move
stolen
funds.
Just
last
week,
OFAC
added
two
crypto
addresses

tied
to
the
Sinbad
mixer.
Police
officials
from
multiple
nations
jointly
seized
Sinbad’s
website
as
well.

OFAC
has
also
banned

various
wallet
addresses
and

individuals
from
the
dollar-based
global
financial
system,
alleging
similarly
supported
North
Korea’s
efforts
to
launder
stolen
funds
in
support
of
its
weapons
program.

Most
famously,
OFAC
listed
privacy
tool
Tornado
Cash
as
a
sanctioned
entity,
alleging

more
than
$100
million
in
stolen
crypto
has
flown
through
the
mixing
service.

Two
of
the
project’s
developers,

Roman
Storm
and

Alexey
Pertsev,
are
currently
facing
charges
in
the
U.S.
and
the
Netherlands
respectively
tied
to
their
work
on
Tornado
Cash.
A
third
developer,
Roman
Semenov,
was
charged
with
money
laundering
and
sanctions
violations,
but
has
not
yet
been
arrested.

Storm
is
set
to

go
on
trial
next
year.