"北, 불법 정유수입•석탄수출 지속... 사이버 공격 통한 암호화폐 탈취 고도화"
A report by a panel of experts for the UN's North Korea sanctions committee suggests the regime continues to use loopholes to push ahead with its illegal activities.
As well as continuing its development of weapons of mass destruction, the regime is illegally importing oil, exporting coal... and stealing foreign currency through cyberattacks.
Oh Jung-hee reports.
North Korea is finding more and more ingenuitive ways to evade the UN Security Council sanctions.
A report written by a panel of experts for the UN's North Korea sanctions committee says... illegal imports of refined petroleum last year were well over the 50-thousand barrel cap.
Unlike in the past when North Korean vessels carried petroleum into the port,... now, foreign vessels are taking it to the regime.
Plus, ship-to-ship transfers are taking place between foreign vessels and third-country vessels, making it more difficult to detect.
The report also says that the regime earned 370-million U.S. dollars by selling 3-point-7 million tons of coal for the first eight months of 2019.
Coal exports are completely banned by UN sanctions.
To earn cash within the international sanctions framework, North Korea is upgrading its cyberattack strategy.
The UN panel report says the regime is believed to have conducted 35 attacks on financial institutions around the world, obtaining 2 billion dollars.
The North sees cyber attacks as a 'low-risk, high-return' way to earn money.
The regime avoids detection by seizing cryptocurrency and swapping it for cash.
The report adds, North Korea continues to advance its missile technology, testing new types of ballistic missiles and working on submarine-launched ballistic missiles.
Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News.
