Treasury Sanctions Clandestine IT Worker Network Funding the DPRK’s Weapons Programs

WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the Korea Sobaeksu Trading Company and three associated individuals—Kim Se Un, Jo Kyong Hun, and Myong Chol Min—for their involvement in the evasion of U.S. and United Nations (UN) sanctions and efforts to generate revenue clandestinely for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) government, including through fraudulent information technology (IT) worker schemes. This action to counter the DPRK’s wide-ranging revenue generation schemes is part of a collaborative effort with the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and State; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Homeland Security Investigations. “The DPRK relies on front companies like Korea Sobaesku Trading Company and key facilitators to procure materials and generate revenue for the regime’s illegal nuclear and ballistic missile programs,” said Director of OFAC Bradley T.