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Agence France-Presse

The US slapped sanctions Monday on two Chinese men it said laundered money for North Korea’s notorious Lazarus Group, a hacking and cybercrime operation.
The US Treasury alleged that Wu Huihui and Cheng Hung-man worked from China and Hong Kong to launder virtual currencies stolen by Lazarus operatives through the international financial system, including through the US banking sector, for use by the North Korean government.
The Lazarus Group has been operating for more than a decade.
It gained notoriety in 2014 when it allegedly hacked Sony Pictures Entertainment, releasing sensitive internal documents as revenge for The Interview, a satirical film that mocked North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.


Since then, it has allegedly engineered or taken part in numerous online thefts, raking in hundreds of millions of dollars every year.
According to the US Treasury, the Lazarus Group is controlled by Pyongyang’s primary intelligence agency, the Reconnaissance General Bureau.
Lazarus targets a wide range of government and private bodies for espionage, data theft and monetary theft, it said.
Is North Korea behind WannaCry virus?
Citing publicly reported data, the Treasury said North Korean cyber actors looted an estimated US$1.7 billion worth of virtual currency in 2022 alone.
That included stealing US$620 million from the online game Axie Infinity.
The Treasury also added to its sanctions blacklist two officials of the already sanctioned Korea Kwangson Banking Corp, for allegedly helping move and hide funds used to support North Korea’s ballistic missile programmes.


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US-China relations

US sanctions Chinese men linked to notorious North Korean hackers

The US Treasury says North Korean cyber actors looted an estimated US$1.7 billion worth of virtual currency in 2022 alone. Image: Shutterstock

Two Chinese nationals charged with laundering US$100 million stolen by North Korean hackers

A graphic showing the alleged flow of funds from North Korean hackers to Tian Yinyin and Li Jiadong. Image: US Treasury Department

Crypto thefts hit record US$3.8 billion in 2022, with North Korean hackers responsible for nearly half

A surge in hacks from North Korea drove up cryptocurrency thefts in 2022 to a record US$3.8 billion. Photo: Shutterstock

US charges North Korean trio in US$1.3 billion hacking spree

An off-duty police officer hired by the cinema stands watch as people arrive to watch the controversial movie The Interview at the Plaza Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, in December 2014. The Sony Pictures comedy was the subject of threats by North Korea after a hacking attack. Photo: EPA

This wanted poster released by the Department of Justice shows Kim Il, who prosecutors say is a member of a North Korean military intelligence agency and carried out hacks at the behest of the government with a goal of using pilfered funds for the benefit of the regime. The Justice Department has charged three North Korean computer programmers in a broad range of global and destructive hacks, including targeting banks and a movie studio. That's according to a newly unsealed indictment. It builds off an earlier criminal case brought in 2018. The new cases adds two additional North Korean defendants. Prosecutors say all three programmers are members of a military intelligence agency of the North Korean government. (Department of Justice via AP)

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Wu Huihui and Cheng Hung-man allegedly laundered virtual currencies for members of the Lazarus Group, known for the Sony Pictures hack in 2014
The group released sensitive internal documents as revenge for The Interview, a satirical film that mocked North Korean leader Kim Jong-un


Wu Huihui and Cheng Hung Man allegedly laundered virtual currencies for members of the Lazarus Group, known for the Sony Pictures hack in 2014.


US sanctions Chinese men linked to notorious North Korean hackers

Wu Huihui and Cheng Hung-man allegedly laundered virtual currencies for members of the Lazarus Group, known for the Sony Pictures hack in 2014 The group released sensitive internal documents as revenge for The Interview, a satirical film that mocked North Korean leader Kim Jong-un

Wu Huihui and Cheng Hung-man allegedly laundered virtual currencies for members of the Lazarus Group, known for the Sony Pictures hack in 2014

The group released sensitive internal documents as revenge for The Interview, a satirical film that mocked North Korean leader Kim Jong-un