US accuses China of aiding North Korea cyber thefts
- Senior justice official John Demers says Asian superpower is helping launder stolen proceeds as well as possibly providing expertise and training
- China is playing ‘balancing act’, he adds, saying that Beijing ‘does not want North Korea to fail’ but is also not keen on neighbour being ‘overly aggressive’
A senior US justice official accused China on Thursday of helping North Korea launder money from massive cyber thefts it has carried out to raise funds in the face of international sanctions.
At an event hosted by a Washington think tank, John Demers, the assistant attorney general for national security, also said North Korea was likely to be getting support from China in the form of cyber expertise and training.
“The other thing … that really pops out of our cases … is the involvement of China in helping the North Koreans evade the sanctions … in helping them launder money that they have somehow gotten or that they want to bring into the regime, or that they’ve stolen and otherwise, helping them sort of move goods,” Demers said.
“There is support through Chinese cyber infrastructure, there’s likely to be support in terms of sharing expertise and training from the Chinese side,” he added in the event hosted by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
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Demers said those involved in violating Chinese-backed international sanctions imposed on North Korea over its nuclear and missile programmes included unscrupulous private individuals and businesses.
“But probably the biggest issue is going to be countries like China that … don’t want North Korea to fail,” he said.
Demers added that China was playing a “balancing act” as it was also “not exactly excited about an overly aggressive North Korea” – an apparent reference to Beijing’s declared opposition to North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programmes.
In March, the US Justice Department charged two Chinese nationals with laundering more than US$100 million in cryptocurrency on behalf of North Korea and detailed Pyongyang’s use of hackers to circumvent sanctions.
Demers appeared to go further in suggesting Chinese state involvement, a charge that comes at a time when the Trump administration has stepped up attacks on China in the run up the November 3 US presidential election.
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Asked to comment, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington said China had always been implementing US resolutions on North Korea and added: “I’m not aware of the situation you mentioned.”
“The Chinese government is a staunch defender of cybersecurity and firmly opposes and fights all forms of cyberattacks and crimes in accordance with law.”
UN experts monitoring sanctions implementation said last year North Korea generated an estimated US$2 billion for its weapons programmes using “widespread and increasingly sophisticated” cyberattacks to steal from banks and cryptocurrency exchanges.
The experts said this year North Korea continued to carry out such attacks globally and they were investigating how Pyongyang laundered virtual assets.
