 |
| Kim Gunn, center, South Korea's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, join hands with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts Sung Kim, right, and Takehiro Funakoshi ahead of their talks at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap |
By Kang Seung-woo
South Korea, Japan and the United States urged member states of the United Nations, Friday, to repatriate all North Korean overseas workers that they believe are key sources of foreign currency and revenue for the development of Pyongyang's nuclear program.
The call came from a joint statement after the top nuclear envoys of the three countries ― Kim Gunn, South Korea's special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs, Sung Kim, the U.S. special representative for North Korea, and Takehiro Funakoshi, Japan's director general for Asian and Oceanian affairs ― held a meeting in Seoul ― the first time since December last year.
"We underscore that in accordance with UNSC resolution 2397, U.N. Member States are required to repatriate all DPRK laborers earning income in their jurisdictions unless repatriation is prohibited by applicable national or international law," the joint statement said. The DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.
Resolution 2397, adopted in 2017, stipulated that member states had to repatriate all North Korean workers abroad by December 2019. However, they have illicitly and skillfully bypassed surveillance by discarding their work visas to obtain different documents when they enter a foreign country. In this way some North Korean IT specialists have been able to earn foreign currency.
The statement emphasized, "U.N. member states should be vigilant and ensure that no work authorizations are renewed or granted to overseas DPRK laborers consistent with UNSC resolution 2375 and address the DPRK's attempts to evade sanctions."
Resolution 2375, also adopted in 2017, includes restrictions on oil supplies to North Korea.
The joint statement was also adopted as Seoul and Washington have both warned of North Korean information technology workers operating under false identities as the reclusive state has increasingly dispatched highly-skilled people around the world to generate revenue to fund its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programs.
"We reiterate with concern that overseas DPRK IT workers continue using forged identities and nationalities to evade UNSC sanctions and earn income abroad that funds the DPRK's unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs," it said.
"We are also deeply concerned about how the DPRK supports these programs by stealing and laundering funds as well as gathering information through malicious cyber activities."
According to the U.N. Panel of Experts, North Korea attempted to steal as much as $2 billion (2.6 trillion won) between 2015 and 2019 through cyber means. According to private industry estimates, the North stole up to $1.7 billion in cryptocurrency in 2022 alone.
"We highlight the importance of our joint efforts to block such illicit revenue streams," it added.
Recently, Pyongyang has ratcheted up tensions on the peninsula.
In March alone, the Kim Jong-un regime conducted various shows of force including the firing of two submarine-launched cruise missiles, an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and the launch of a new underwater attack drone.
The authoritarian state is expected to increase provocations this month, in connection with major political events in Pyongyang, as well as in protest of the summit between President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden slated for April 26.
