Australia hits North Korean 'shadow bankers' with fresh sanctions

The federal government has hit two North Korean companies and "shadow bankers" with sanctions for employing fraudulent online workers who help Pyongyang evade UN sanctions and earn cash for its nuclear weapons program.

The US and several other nations have accused North Korea of setting up an international network of IT workers to launder billions of dollars through cybercrime and overseas earnings.

The two men sanctioned by Australia — Sim Hyon Sop and Yu Py Ung — have been identified by US authorities as key financial brokers for the regime.

In 2024 the US Treasury called Yu Pu Ung "a linchpin in the DPRK's illicit financial activities [who] is skilled at employing various schemes to avoid detection".

The year before that the FBI offered a $5 million dollar reward for information to assist with the capture of Sim Hyon Sop, who the agency said helped North Korea evade sanctions.

He "allegedly played a pivotal role in defrauding U.S. banks by remitting U.S. dollar payments to facilitate trade on behalf of North Korea," the FBI said.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the sanctioned companies employed North Koreans who impersonated nationals from other countries, worked on online platforms and sent their income to key North Korean government agencies.

Senator Wong said that was "a violation of UN Security Council resolutions that prohibit North Korea's export of labour" and that Australia was acting "in coordination with international partners, including the European Union".

"Australian sanctions reinforce our ongoing efforts, alongside international partners, to disrupt North Korea's illicit revenue-generating networks and increase pressure on the regime to comply with its international obligations and abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs," she said.

North Korea has repeatedly denied setting up shadow financial networks and says the allegations against it are fabricated.

But law enforcement and financial institutions from across the world say there is a mountain of evidence to back their accusations.

In July the US, Australia, Japan, South Korea, the UK, Canada and several European nations warned that North Korean workers were employing "increasingly sophisticated methods, including the integration of AI, to obfuscate their identities and expand their activities globally".

They urged countries around the world to "deepen their understanding of North Korean IT worker schemes and implement measures to counter [them]".

New Zealand's cyber authorities also warned in advisory earlier this year that a North Korean operative posing as remote contractor was unwittingly hired by a local business.

Senator Wong said Australia continued to call on North Korea to "comply fully with UN Security Council resolutions and to take concrete steps towards complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation".