Key points: North Korea condemned new U.S. Treasury sanctions targeting alleged cybercrime-linked money laundering and vowed unspecified countermeasures. The Treasury accused state-linked hackers of stealing more than $3 billion in predominantly digital assets over three years and said those funds help support the North's weapons programs. Pyongyang said sanctions would not change its strategic position, while diplomatic ties remain frozen since 2019 and Kim Jong Un has moved closer to Russia.
North Korea Condemns U.S. Cybercrime Sanctions, Vows Countermeasures as Tensions Escalate
Key points: North Korea condemned new U.S. Treasury sanctions targeting alleged cybercrime-linked money laundering and vowed unspecified countermeasures. The Treasury accused state-linked hackers of stealing more than $3 billion in predominantly digital assets over three years and said those funds help support the North's weapons programs. Pyongyang said sanctions would not change its strategic position, while diplomatic ties remain frozen since 2019 and Kim Jong Un has moved closer to Russia.
07:28, 06.11.2025Security
North Korea denounces U.S. sanctions targeting alleged cybercrime financing
North Korea on Thursday sharply criticized the Trump administration's latest sanctions aimed at cybercrime operations that Washington says help fund Pyongyang's illicit nuclear program, calling the measures evidence of "wicked" U.S. hostility and promising unspecified countermeasures.
The statement came from Vice Foreign Minister Kim Un Chol after the U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday sanctioned eight individuals and two companies — including North Korean bankers — accused of laundering proceeds from state-linked cybercrime operations.
U.S. allegations: The Treasury said North Korean, state-sponsored hacking operations have stolen more than $3 billion in mostly digital assets over the past three years, an amount it described as unmatched by any other foreign actor. U.S. officials say the illicit proceeds are laundered through a network of banking representatives, financial institutions and shell companies in North Korea, China, Russia and elsewhere to finance the country's weapons programs.
"Now that the present U.S. administration has clarified its stand to be hostile towards the DPRK to the last, we will also take proper measures to counter it with patience for any length of time," Kim Un Chol said, using North Korea's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Kim added that U.S. sanctions and pressure tactics "will never change the present strategic situation" between the countries or alter the North's "thinking and viewpoint."
Diplomatic context: The sanctions were announced while President Donald Trump has continued to signal interest in restarting talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Previous bilateral nuclear negotiations collapsed in 2019 amid disagreement over trading sanctions relief for concrete steps toward denuclearization.
Since 2019, Kim Jong Un has largely avoided direct engagement with Washington and Seoul and has pursued closer ties with Russia. Reports have suggested increased military and material cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow, while North Korean rhetoric calls for the U.S. to drop its demand that the North surrender its nuclear arsenal as a precondition for renewed diplomacy.
Kim also reportedly declined an offer from President Trump to meet during the recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea. Pyongyang's response to the sanctions remains vague, with officials promising measured counteractions but offering no specific details.