by Stefano Vaccara
NEW YORK (UNITED STATES) (ITALPRESS) – The UN presented the second report of the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT), an initiative of 11 countries, including the United States and Italy, born after the dissolution in 2024 of the previous panel of experts responsible for monitoring sanctions against North Korea, blocked by the Russian veto to renew the mandate. The dossier aims to bridge that gap by documenting how Pyongyang violates and adjournss Security Council measures through IT operations and IT workers’ networks under cover. The conference was opened by Jonathan Fritz, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the US State Department for East Asia and the Pacific, who defined the report as a “high quality” for the amount of public and private sources collected and for the level of detail on the connections between cyber actors, IT workers and North Korean entities already sanctioned by the United Nations. According to Fritz, these activities affect companies and citizens in many countries, through thefts of funds, personal data and intellectual property, and generate revenue that end up supporting nuclear and missile programs.
The most alarming data concerns thefts of cryptocurrencies. In the briefing, the estimate of the MSMT was recalled that North Korea would subtract at least $2.8 billion between January 2024 and September 2025, specifying that it is a prudent and low assessment. In parallel, information on the margins of the initiative indicates that in 2025 Pyongyang would have stolen more than $2 billion in crypt, with more than 1.6 billion already between January and September. A figure in line with the evaluation of the Chainalysis blockchain analysis platform, which estimates $2.02 billion subtracted by North Korean hackers in 2025, with an increase of 51% on an annual basis. According to the speakers, Pyongyang supports networks of foreign citizens and foreign facilitators to recycle stolen digital assets and convert them into current currency, intended for the purchase of materials and for the financing of prohibited activities. The report also dedicates space to computer workers sent abroad, often with false identities and remote contracts, which postpone wages to the regime. The MSMT asked Member States to strictly apply UN resolutions and strengthen cooperation with the private sector to prevent new violations. The morning of the presentation of the report, the North Korean mission to the UN issued a very hard note against Washington, accusing the United States of “shameful actions” that undermine the authority of the United Nations and abuse the Palace of Glass for geopolitical interests. Pyongyang argued that the U.S. “illegal and immoral acts” should be discussed at the UN.
– photos of repertoire IPA Agency –
(ITALPRESS).
