US, South Korea and Japan express concern over North Korea's 'malicious' cyber activities

Seoul: The United States, South Korea and Japan have flagged deep concerns over North Korea’s over “malicious” cyber activities that allegedly support its military programmes, the three countries said in a joint statement.

Experts in US claim that cryptocurrency funds stolen by North Korean hackers have helped the country to finance the sanctions-stricken country’s weapons programmes.

The three countries held talks in Seoul this week amid a growing threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes.

Also read: South Korea, US and Japan urge countries to return North Koreans illegally working abroad

“We reiterate with concern that overseas DPRK IT workers continue using forged identities and nationalities” to evade UN sanctions and raise funds for missile programmes, according to the envoys’ joint statement.

It added, “We are also deeply concerned about how the DPRK supports these programmes by stealing and laundering funds as well as gathering information through malicious cyber activities.”

Following the joint military exercise by US and South Korea which has angered Pyongyang, Kim Jong Un has ordered ramping up its military activities in recent weeks. It unveiled new, smaller nuclear warheads, and fired an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking anywhere in the United States.

As those exercises and tests continue, there has been an exchange of harsh rhetoric. On Thursday, North Korea accused Washington and Seoul of pushing tensions to the brink of nuclear war through their military drills.

Kim Gunn, South Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator, said, “North Korea is misguiding its people to believe that nuclear weapons are a magic wand that can solve all of its problems.”

Japan on Friday announced a two-year extension of its trade ban on North Korea, with exemptions for humanitarian reasons.

With inputs from agencies

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