US urges joint action against North Korean crypto theft
Washington says governments must share the burden of curbing North Korean revenue, as Seoul weighs whether to add its own sanctions.
The United States called for international cooperation against North Korean cyber activity on Saturday, following a major cryptocurrency theft from Binance, South Korea's national news agency Yonhap reported.
A State Department spokesperson told Yonhap in a written response that governments need to take their own steps to limit the cyber threat from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the North's official name, and to reduce the revenue it earns illegally.
The remarks answered a question about possible coordination between Washington and Seoul on additional sanctions after the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation attributed the cryptocurrency theft to North Korean actors.
The spokesperson stressed the need to enforce existing international sanctions and to block Pyongyang from financing its weapons programs.
The spokesperson said U.N. member states were expected to act proactively to stop funding for the North's nuclear-related and ballistic missile programs.
The spokesperson added that coordinated unilateral sanctions remain an effective tool for stopping the money that supports the spread of weapons.
The comments followed a statement on Thursday by a South Korean unification ministry official, who said Seoul had not yet begun discussing sanctions because the circumstances of the theft had not been fully established.
South Korea's foreign ministry separately said it was reviewing possible additional measures, including unilateral cyber sanctions, but that no decision had been made.
The State Department did not say directly whether Washington had shared its investigative findings with Seoul or held bilateral talks on sanctions linked to the incident.
Washington and Seoul have long accused Pyongyang of using hacking to raise funds for its weapons programs, and U.N. Security Council sanctions already restrict North Korea's arms and financial activities.
Binance is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, so thefts from its platform draw attention from regulators and governments.
