North Korea steps up efforts to send IT workers overseas as the country increasingly relies on cyberattacks and other online crime to fund its weapons programs. This was stated by US and South Korean officials, reports Bloomberg..

“This is an emerging industry as we see the DPRK potentially opening up borders, they can send additional workers to all parts of the world for profit.. We believe the situation is actively deteriorating,” said U.S. Deputy Special Representative for North Korea Jun Park..

The U.S. Treasury Department this week imposed sanctions on four entities linked to the North Korean military and intelligence services, as well as one North Korean citizen who lives in the Russian city of Vladivostok and received crypto payments from North Korean tech workers..

Pyongyang, forced to change its retaliatory tactics against sanctions programs aimed at its efforts to develop nuclear weapons, is increasingly relying on thousands of North Korean programmers sent abroad, mainly to China and Russia, before the regime closed its borders during the COVID-19 pandemic..

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These workers can earn up to $300,000 a year by working overseas—often remotely via freelance platforms with fake or stolen identities—and can also facilitate cyberattacks and the theft of cryptocurrencies that have helped North Korea earn an estimated $1.7 billion in.

US efforts to impose sanctions against North Korea, including at the UN, did little to stop North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's arms program. Last year, the country launched more than 70 ballistic missiles.

One of the main reasons why North Korea may continue to develop weapons is that China and Russia still protect the DPRK in the UN Security Council, as well as host a significant portion of foreign IT workers who are looking for big profits, Park said..

“It is very difficult to influence the behavior of the DPRK if Russia and China continue to defend it from international condemnation of the development of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons,” Park said..

While North Korea has also sent workers to work in sectors such as construction, Kim Jong-un's government sees the theft of cryptocurrencies and IT revenue as a "

“Since they closed their borders and other sources of income have been affected, they are increasingly focusing on making money in cyberspace, and as the cryptocurrency market grows, they are finding more and more vulnerabilities in this sector,” Li explained..

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Earlier it was reported that the United States, South Korea and Japan expressed deep concern about North Korea's malicious cyber activities aimed at supporting its weapons programs..

Cryptocurrency stolen by North Korean hackers was a key source of funding for DPRK's sanctioned weapons programs.