The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s Violations and Evasions of UN Sanctions through Cyber and IT Worker Activities

Today at the United Nations, the United States joined other members of the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT) to highlight their recent report.  First released in October, the report focuses on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) violations and evasions of UN sanctions through illicit cyber and information technology worker activities.

This MSMT report finds that the DPRK routinely violates UN Security Council resolutions through malicious cyber and IT worker activities.  These activities generate revenue for the DPRK’s unlawful weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programs.  

The MSMT report is an unprecedented effort that exposes DPRK sanctions violations, with 140 pages of previously non-public information from 11 UN member states participating in MSMT and nine private sector companies.  The report is available at the MSMT website.

The DPRK continues to engage in malicious cyber operations.  In the three months since the report’s release, the DPRK has stolen an additional $400 million in cryptocurrency, bringing the total stolen in 2025 to more than $2 billion.