Top NK Headlines - May 2023 — Crossing Borders - Helping North Korean Refugees and Orphans

CRYPTO HACKERS STOLE BILLIONS - FUNDING HALF OF NORTH KOREA’S MISSILE PROGRAM

North Korea allegedly targeted crypto assets in other countries to obtain foreign currency to fund its missile program.
According to U.K.-based blockchain analysis provider, Elliptic, hacker groups affiliated with North Korea have stolen a total of $2.3 billion USD between 2017 and 2022. Of that, $721 million USD was stolen from Japan alone, which equals to 30% of the total of such losses globally, followed by Vietnam ($540 million USD), the U.S. ($497 million USD) and Hong Kong ($281 million USD).
Although Pyongyang employed two main types of cyberattacks: hacking and ransomware, Elliptic’s analysis mostly uncovered hacking (stealing directly from cryptocurrency exchanges).
A White House official suggests that about half of North Korea’s missile program has been funded by cyberattacks and cryptocurrency theft.
U.S. intelligence agencies are still trying to identify the culprits behind the cybercrimes and the Biden administration is said to be “putting a lot of time and thought” into the problem.

According to Seoul’s unification ministry, voluntary radiation exposure tests have commenced for North Korean defectors who came from areas near North Korea’s Punggye-ri nuclear testing site.
South Korea had previously carried out similar tests on 40 North Korean defectors in 2017 and 2018.
796 former residents from Punggye-ri and nearby areas defected to South Korea since the first nuclear test in October 2006.
This round of tests come three months after the Transitional Justice Working Group released a report claiming that tens of thousands of North Koreans may have been exposed to radioactive materials and concerns grew over defectors’ health risks.
89 individuals who used to live near the nuclear facility, in which all of the North’s six nuclear weapons tests in the past were carried out, have begun undergoing the testing.
The medical tests include whole-body counting (the measurement of radioactivity) and chromosome analysis. Participants would also be asked about the source of their drinking water while living in North Korea.
The radiation testing is expected to be completed by November and its outcome likely to be publicized by late December.

South Korean President, Yoon Suk-yeol, named Kim Kwan-jin the de facto chief of a newly established committee tasked with reforming the South Korean military to counter the North’s missile and nuclear threats.
Kim is one of the eight experts appointed to deter North Korea’s “provocative mentality in advance."
A former defense minister, the retired four-star general has earned a reputation for his uncompromising and aggressive posture toward North Korea. For instance, he ordered the military to take the approach of “shoot first, report later” in face of provocations from the North.
Yoon also called on the committee to enhance the South’s reconnaissance and surveillance capabilities and establish a more effective defense system against drones.
While one of the most qualified, his appointment was met with controversy due to multiple criminal charges on political meddling and abuse of authority he faced during his time in office.

Satellite images appear to show North Korean soldiers gathering at the Mirim parade training ground in Pyongyang to prepare for a military parade.
The training base shares the same ground pattern as Kim Il Sung Square, and hundreds of possibly troop-carrying trucks arrived after May 12.
The apparent rehearsals are speculated to prepare for a potential parade to be held on July 27, which marks the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War. Another possible date is September 9, known as “Republic Day,” which celebrates the establishment of the regime.
Researchers described military parades as Pyongyang’s low-cost method of garnering attention that also serves to “bolster internal solidarity by putting a spotlight on the armed forces, which is the only sector where the Kim Jong-un regime can claim to have achieved progress.”
Satellite images also show a new hotel under construction at Mirim which is intended to house soldiers during extended military parade training in the future.