The US authorities have imposed sanctions on eight individuals and two North Korean companies accused of laundering money earned through cybercrime and a fraudulent international IT worker scheme that funneled funds back to Pyongyang. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that the Korea Mangyongdae Computer Technology Company (KMCTC) and Ryujong Credit Bank played central roles in helping North Korea evade sanctions and generate revenue for its weapons programs.
According to OFAC, KMCTC operates IT worker hubs in the Chinese cities of Shenyang and Dandong, where it helps North Korean nationals use Chinese proxies to obtain and launder earnings from overseas employment. U Yong Su, the company’s president, was among those sanctioned. Ryujong Credit Bank was also mentioned as assisting in laundering funds earned by overseas workers, channeling profits back to the regime.
The sanctions also target seven other men, Jang Kuk Chol, Ho Jong Son, Ho Yong Chol, Han Hong Gil, Jong Sung Hyok, Choe Chun Pom, and Ri Jin Hyok, accused of acting as bankers, facilitators, and financial representatives involved in the broader laundering network.
The Treasury said Jang and Ho managed roughly $5.3 million in cryptocurrency, some of which was traced to a ransomware attack on a US organization. Officials said the scheme extends beyond cybercrime, involving IT workers who use fake or stolen identities to secure remote jobs at US companies and channel illicit earnings to North Korea. Several of the sanctioned individuals, operating in China and Russia, allegedly managed millions of dollars in transactions for sanctioned banks and other state entities.
