The US, Japan, and South Korea have announced new sanctions to punish North Korea for an unprecedented series of missile tests, as they struggle to pressure Pyongyang to return to the negotiating table.
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Three individuals were targeted by the US government for their connection to the ruling Workers Party of Korea, while Japan targeted three groups and one individual. South Korea added eight individuals and seven institutions it said were linked to North Korea's missile and nuclear weapons development program.
The allies are trying to ramp up pressure against North Korea, which is already under US and UN sanctions. There are limits on foreign income and a cap on fuel imports as well as a cap on fuel imports.
Russia and China, two long-time partners of North Korea, have veto power at the UN Security Council and have shown no intent to punish Kim Jong Un with additional sanctions. After Kim's last atomic test, they played a critical role in passing such measures five years ago.
North Korea has fired a record number of missiles this year, with the US and its allies focused on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In November, North Korea fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile with an estimated range long enough to carry a warhead to the American mainland, highlighting the challenge for US President Joe Biden.
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The U.S., South Korea, and Japan have promised a coordinated response if Kim defies the United Nations resolutions and detonates an atomic device.
Among the organisations added to Japan's sanctions list was the Lazarus Group, which the government said goes under alias including the New Romantic Cyber Army Team. North Korea has intensified its cybercrime operations, including stealing from cryptocurrencies platforms, to generate revenue to prop up its ailing economy.
According to a report from Chainalysis, North Korea's hacker army stole $400 million in digital assets in 2021, according to a report from Chainalysis. In April of this year, the US Treasury Department tied the North Korean hacking group Lazarus to the theft of over $600 million in crypto from a software bridge used by a popular video game.
The government previously sanctioned a virtual currency mixer, Blender.io, that it said was tied to North Korean hacking and money-laundering activities.
Anthony Ruggiero, a former North Korea director on the White House National Security Council, said that the US could still target North Korean shipping companies, coal exports to China and Chinese companies employing overseas North Korean laborers, as well as North Korean efforts to steal criptocurrency, a former North Korea director on the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think-tank.
There is a lot left to sanction, according to Ruggiero, speaking Thursday at an event on threats to non-proliferation. We have to re-invigorate the pressure campaign. Read more: US Links North Korean Hacker Group to Record Crypto Heist
On Wednesday, a National Security Council Advisor Jake Sullivan told the Center for Strategic and International Studies that new sanctions were coming forward and that the US would strengthen military and intelligence cooperation with Japan and South Korea.
Tighter military cooperation with Tokyo and Seoul would include upgrading the alliance software we have in the region, and steps with respect to the hardware, Sullivan said.