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- Senior US official highlights North Korean cyber attacks again.
- Official accuses China of aiding North Korean attacks.
- Accusation furthers that China is aiding N Korea to circumvent the sanctions.
John Demers, the attorney general for national security at the United States Justice department is now accusing China of helping and aiding North Korea to launder the money amassed from cyber attacks.
Speaking at a Washington think tank Demers furthers that there is a high possibility of China providing expertise, training and other technical support to China.
“The other thing … that really pops out of our cases … is the involvement of China in helping the North Koreans evade the sanctions … in helping them launder money that they have somehow gotten or that they want to bring into the regime, or that they’ve stolen and otherwise, helping them sort of move goods,”
John Demers, Attorney General for National Security
Demers was talking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, where explains that North Korea is facing sanctions owing to the nuclear program and other military programs through private sector businessmen and individuals.
Demer is of the view that China doesn’t want North Korea to fail against the US in order to maintain “balance” while the US is not interested in engaging the “overly aggressive” North Korean regime.
While Beijing maintains opposition to North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programs in support of the sanctions imposed on the country. Whereas, the South Korea stands to be an exact opposite of the northern part.
The accusation comes at a time when there is ongoing political turmoil in the US, the anti-China narrative is one of the key points in the Trump campaign for upcoming presidential elections due in November 2020.
On the other hand, Beijing continues to maintain their impartiality and neutrality in the matter to support the sanctions imposed by the United Nations.
North Korean cyber attacks
Per the UN statistics, so far the North Korean cyber attacks have managed to amass a sum of over $2 billion, which is believed to be used for the notorious weapons program. UN reports further that the North Korean cyber attacks are getting more sophisticated to steal from banks and other financial institutions.
On the one hand, the U.S Justice Department indicted two Chinese nationals in connection with the North Korean cyber attacks case. The two accused were charged for money laundering more than $100 million in cryptocurrency and detailed Pyongyang’s use of hackers to circumvent sanctions. The UN experts express that they are investigating how Pyongyang laundered virtual assets.
On the other hand, in May a Federal Bureau of Investigation official expressed that the North Korean Cyber attacks are in retaliation of the sanctions.
