<figure id="attachment_407360" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-407360" style="width: 5495px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="abce7efe"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/01/de10403415647ba67721565a61ce74f2.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-407360" class="wp-caption-text">North Koreans receive thorough IT education from their teenage years in order to nurture talented hackers.</figcaption></figure>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> According to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States, North Korea&#8217;s hackers rank third in the world in terms of ability. According to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the U.S., North Korea ranks third in the world in terms of capability.</span></p>
<p> Shinichi Hen, editor-in-chief of &#8220;Korea Report&#8221; and an expert on the situation on the Korean Peninsula, said, &#8220;North Korea&#8217;s hackers are the third most capable in the world.</p>
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<p> The third most capable in the world. Last December, it was discovered that the North Korean hacker group &#8220;Trader Trutators&#8221; had stolen 48.2 billion yen worth of bitcoins from the crypto asset (virtual currency) exchange company &#8220;DMM Bitcoin&#8221; (Chuo-ku, Tokyo; hereafter &#8220;D&#8221; company). The National Police Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the U.S. identified the company&#8217;s employees, who were contacted through social networking services by employees of a company that was entrusted with the management of D Corp. accounts.</p>
<h2> &#8216;Your skills are impressive.</h2>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The first time bitcoins worth 48.2 billion yen were illegally leaked to North Korea was in May of last year. The hacker group solicited employees under the guise of a headhunter, saying things like, &#8220;Your skills are excellent. The hackers are believed to have sent an unauthorized URL to employees for a pre-employment test and hijacked their system administration privileges.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The police, consulted by the cyber-attacked company, traced the flow of virtual currency and discovered that &#8220;Trader Trator&#8221; had committed the crime. Although there was no damage to users, the company was forced to close down about six months later.</span></p>
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<p> As mentioned at the beginning of this article, North Korean hackers are highly capable, and according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, they have stolen more than 140 billion yen in virtual currency from other countries in the two years through 2010. According to Mr. Hen, &#8220;North Korea is developing short-range bombs.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The cost of a short-range ballistic missile developed by North Korea is about 600 million yen per missile. An intercontinental ballistic missile is said to cost about 4.2 billion yen. North Korea, which is under economic pressure due to UN sanctions, is able to develop nuclear weapons and missiles and repeatedly conduct launch tests because it is using the enormous amount of money it has illegally obtained through cyber attacks to fund its development.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The hacker group is part of the Korean People&#8217;s Army&#8217;s reconnaissance bureau, which has received thorough IT training from its teenage years and has gone into hiding in Russia and China. They are believed to be launching cyber-attacks. Many of its members rank high in math contests around the world, and there are as many as 7,000 members in this ultra-elite group.</span></p>
<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" North Korea&#39;s Claims to Justify Cheating"></div>
<h2>An unjustified act that threatens the right to survival.</h2>
<p> No matter how capable they are, robbing virtual currency is an unforgivable act. Why does North Korea repeatedly commit fraud? According to Hen, there is an &#8220;appalling argument.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> From North Korea&#8217;s point of view, the UN economic sanctions have made it impossible for its people to lead even a minimal life. They say that this is an unjust act that threatens the people&#8217;s right to survival. They claim that they have no right to complain about cyber-attacks to protect the right to exist, which is a basic human right.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> North Korea also has a &#8220;case&#8221; for its nuclear development. North Korea is threatened by the U.S. with nuclear weapons. Since North Korea withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in March 1993, they think it is interference in their internal affairs for other countries to criticize them.</span></p>
<p> North Korea has repeatedly launched cyber attacks with selfish claims. The large sums of money taken from North Korea are being channeled into nuclear development without enriching the lives of its own people.</p>
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 AP/Afro

 North Korea cyber-attacked a Japanese virtual currency exchange company. The bitcoins taken were worth 48.2 billion yen. They say they will use the illegally obtained money to develop nuclear weapons and missiles. Experts point out that this is an "appalling argument" to justify theft and nuclear development.

North Korea, the world’s third largest producer of Bitcoin, used the money obtained illegally for its nuclear development program.

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