This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.Dado Ruvic/ReutersThe cryptocurrency thefts 'may have been conducted by DPRK IT workers inadvertently hired by small crypto-related companies,' says UN sanctions monitors
That included an attack late last year where $147.5 million was stolen from HTX cryptocurrency exchange before being laundered in March this year, the monitors told the committee, citing information from crypto analytics firm PeckShield and blockchain research firm Elliptic. Formally known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , North Korea has been under UN sanctions since 2006 and those measures have been strengthened over the years in a bid to cut funding for its ballistic missile and nuclear programs.The US sanctioned Tornado Cash in 2022 over accusations it supports North Korea. Two of its co-founders were charged in 2023 with facilitating more than $1 billion in money laundering, including for a cybercrime group linked to North Korea.
The UN sanctions monitors were disbanded at the end of April after Russia vetoed the annual renewal of their mandate. Some of the monitors submitted unfinished work, which was shared with the council’s North Korea sanctions committee on Friday. The sanctions monitors said one particular ship called the Angara had been at China’s Ningbo port since February, where it may have been undergoing maintenance. Reuters has reported that China was providing moorage for the ship.
In a separate report last month, UN sanctions monitors told the Security Council that debris from a missile that landed in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Jan. 2 was from a North Korean Hwasong-11 series ballistic missile.