SEOUL: North Korea has stolen more than $300 million worth of cryptocurrencies through cyberattacks in recent months to support its banned nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, a confidential UN report said.

Compiled by a panel of experts monitoring sanctions on Pyongyang, the report said the country’s “total theft of virtual assets from 2019 to November 2020 is valued at approximately $316.4 million”, citing a UN member state.

Financial institutions and exchanges were hacked to generate revenue for Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile development, said the report, which was seen by AFP.

The vast majority of the proceeds came from two thefts late last year.

The North is known to operate an army of thousands of well-trained hackers who have attacked firms, institutions and researchers in South Korea and elsewhere.

It has also been accused of exploiting its cyber capabilities for financial gain.

The North is under multiple sets of international sanctions over its banned nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, which have made rapid progress under leader Kim Jong Un.

A summit between Kim and then-US president Donald Trump in Hanoi in February 2019 broke down over sanctions relief and what Pyongyang would be willing to give up in return.

Nuclear talks have been stalled ever since, while the North showed off several new missiles at military parades in October and last month, when Kim pledged to strengthen his nuclear arsenal.

The UN panel said it was investigating a September 2020 hack against a cryptocurrency exchange that resulted in $281 million worth of cryptocurrencies being stolen.

A second cyberattack siphoned off $23 million a month later.

“Preliminary analysis, based on the attack vectors and subsequent efforts to launder the illicit proceeds strongly suggests links to the DPRK,” the report said, using the initials for the North’s official name.

Pyongyang’s cyberwarfare abilities first came to global prominence in 2014 when it was accused of hacking into Sony Pictures Entertainment as revenge for “The Interview”, a satirical film that mocked leader Kim.

The attack resulted in the posting of several unreleased movies as well as a vast trove of confidential documents online. 

The North is also blamed for a huge, $81 million cyber-heist from the Bangladesh Central Bank, as well as the theft of $60 million from Taiwan’s Far Eastern International Bank.

The North’s hackers have allegedly stepped up campaigns to raise funds by attacking cryptocurrency exchanges as the value of bitcoin and other cybercurrencies soared.

They were blamed for the 2017 WannaCry global ransomware cyberattack, which infected some 300,000 computers in 150 nations encrypting user files and demanding hundreds of dollars from their owners for the keys to get them back.

Pyongyang has denied the accusations, saying it has “nothing to do with cyber-attacks”.

Washington: The United States will take on the challenges being posed by China directly, but will not hesitate to work with Beijing when it is in America’s interest to do so, President Joe Biden said on Thursday.

“We will confront China’s economic abuses, counter its aggressive, coercive action to push back on China’s attack on human rights, intellectual property and global governance,” Biden said in his address to State Department employees at its Foggy Bottom headquarters here.

“But we are ready to work with Beijing when it is in America’s interest to do so. We will compete from a position of strength by building back better at home, working with our allies and partners, renewing our role in international institutions, and reclaiming our credibility and moral authority, much of which has been lost,” he said, giving the glimpse of his administration’s policies on China.

“That is why we have moved quickly to begin restoring American engagement internationally and earn back our leadership position to catalyse global action on shared challenges,” Biden said.

Earlier in the day, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters that their priority is not to get access for Goldman Sachs in China. “Our priority is to make sure that we are dealing with China’s trade abuses that are harming American jobs and American workers in the United States,” he said.

The Biden administration believes that once the US establishes its position of strength, it will be able to compete more effectively with its competitors across the board and especially with China in every domain, including economic, diplomatic, technological and security.

“We will be able to counter Russia more effectively and we will be better equipped to address threats from climate change, to pandemics, to nuclear proliferation. We will also be able to more effectively pursue a foreign policy for the middle class. This is not just a tagline, it is an organising principle for the work that we will do,” Biden said.

In a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Senator Rick Scott underscored that the threat of communist China must be a top priority for Pentagon.

“As the United States faces increasingly frequent and dangerous threats from adversaries across the globe — namely communist China, Iran, Russia and North Korea — there has never been a more important time to ensure that our men and women in uniform have every resource they need to stand strong and combat threats to our freedoms and interests,” he said.

“Communist China is undoubtedly our greatest enemy and must be treated as such. The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) policy of genocide against the Uyghurs, theft of American technology and dangerous actions to build its military presence and threaten the security of the United States and its allies cannot be tolerated,” Scott wrote to Austin.

Encouraged by the defense secretary’s candour regarding the threat communist China poses to nations around the world, Scott urged Austin to take the strongest possible position to ensure that the Biden administration places accountability and strength at the top of its policy agenda.

“We cannot forget, when the reckless actions of communist China adversely impact our allies, especially those in the Indo-Pacific region including Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, India or Taiwan, they also threaten the safety and security of the United States,” he said.

Meanwhile, Congressman Brad Wenstrup led 45 lawmakers in writing to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Sullivan regarding the CCP’s coercive population control efforts and grave human rights abuses in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.

“There is little doubt that China poses one of the most significant challenges to the United States going forward. As part of the administration’s effort to confront this challenge, we urge you to prioritise holding the Chinese government accountable for the ongoing genocide in Xinjiang and stand up for the rights to life, human dignity and religious freedom for all people,” the members wrote.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday it was suspending entry to the Kingdom from 20 countries, except for citizens, diplomats, health workers and their families, to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

The Ministry of Interior said it would bar entry of people arriving from the UAE, Egypt, Lebanon, and Turkey, as well as the United States, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Switzerland, Sweden, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Japan.

The ministry said the suspension would be implemented from 9 p.m. on Wednesday and includes travelers who transited through the aforementioned countries within the 14 days prior to their planned journey to the Kingdom.

The ministry said the decision was based on recommendations by Saudi health authorities.