The clandestine network sought to evade existing sanctions against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the Korea Sobaeksu Trading Company and three associated individuals last month for efforts to generate revenue for the North Korean government’s weapons program.
“The DPRK relies on front companies like Korea Sobaesku Trading Company and key facilitators to procure materials and generate revenue for the regime’s illegal nuclear and ballistic missile programs,” said Director of OFAC Bradley Smith.
“The DPRK regime dispatches teams of highly skilled IT workers around the world in order to generate revenue alongside other illicit trade activities, in violation of U.S. and UN sanctions. The teams of IT workers typically use fraudulent documents, stolen identities, and false personas to obfuscate their identities and infiltrate legitimate companies, including those in the United States and other allied jurisdictions,“ the Treasury Department explained. “The DPRK government withholds most of the wages earned by IT workers, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue to support the North Korean regime’s unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.“
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For Secretary Bessent to receive God’s leading as he oversees the Treasury Department and its offices.
- For Director Smith to be discerning as he heads the Office of Foreign Assets Control.
Sources: Department of the Treasury
