North Korea slams US sanctions on cybercrimes and says pressure tactics will fail - WTOP News

North Korea has strongly condemned the latest sanctions imposed by the Trump administration, which target cybercrimes that allegedly fund its secret nuclear weapons program. The North Korean vice foreign minister, Kim Un Chol, accused the United States of harboring deep-seated hostility towards Pyongyang and warned that such pressure tactics won’t succeed. These sanctions, announced by the U.S. Treasury Department on Tuesday, targeted eight individuals and two firms linked to North Korean banks accused of laundering money derived from cybercrime operations. According to the Treasury, North Korea’s state-backed hacking activities have stolen over $3 billion in digital assets over the last three years, an amount said to be unmatched by any other foreign entity. The illicit funds are reportedly funneled into financing Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons development. The U.S. also exposed a complex web of banking agents, financial firms, and shell companies operating within North Korea, China, Russia, and other locations that assist in laundering money obtained through various schemes such as IT worker fraud, cryptocurrency thefts, and sanctions evasion. This move comes at a time when President Donald Trump has expressed interest in restarting diplomatic talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. However, previous negotiations broke down in 2019 amid disputes over lifting U.S.-led sanctions in exchange for North Korea dismantling its nuclear arsenal. Kim Un Chol’s statement emphasized that the current U.S. administration has made its hostile stance clear, and Pyongyang is prepared to respond with patience and resilience, asserting that these sanctions won’t alter the strategic dynamics or the North’s worldview. Since the collapse of talks with Washington, Kim Jong Un has refused to engage in diplomacy with both the U.S. and South Korea. Instead, he has shifted North Korea’s foreign policy focus towards Russia, even deploying thousands of troops and military equipment to support Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. This alignment seems aimed at securing a stronger position for North Korea within a broader coalition opposing the U.S.-led Western bloc. In a recent speech, Kim also called on Washington to drop its demand that North Korea surrender its nuclear weapons before resuming talks. Notably, he ignored Trump’s recent offer to meet during the latter’s visit to South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. This ongoing impasse and North Korea’s increasing militarization suggest a complex and tense environment, with little indication of renewed dialogue or de-escalation in the near term.