Report: North Korea Used Cyber Crime to Pay for Nuclear Program, Missiles

A secret United Nations report says North Korea has used attacks over the internet to steal hundreds of millions of dollars. The money was then used to pay for the country's nuclear program and to improve its ability to develop ballistic missiles. The attacks are a violation¹ of international law.

The report was released to reporters Tuesday. It says North Korea was able to increase its nuclear and missile programs in 2020. North Korea remains² under many international sanctions.

One unnamed official from a U.N. country said in the report that North Korea paid for its military expansion with over $300 million stolen through cyberhacks and internet fraud.

The report points to new ballistic missiles that have been shown in recent military parades. It also says those missiles could be large enough to carry nuclear weapons and could possibly reach the United States.

North Korea announced in January that it had developed what it claimed to be "the world's most powerful weapon." That weapon is a submarine-launched ballistic missile. However, the weapon has yet to be tested. Little else is known.

The show of military strength is partly because of the change of administration in the United States, said Sojin Lim. She is a Korea expert at Britain's University of Central Lancashire.

Lim told VOA that the nuclear program is seen by Kim as the only way for North Korea to survive.

"Recently, because of the COVID-19 situation, their economic situation has become even worse. And especially with the new administration in the (United) States, the new President (Joe) Biden, North Korea has no way to discuss or negotiate with America," she said.

The report was written by North Korea watchers for the U.N. Security Council's North Korea sanctions committee.

Lim argued that sanctions on North Korea have not worked.

"Sanctions give more hardship for civilians⁴, but its own aims or purpose, which is the change in policy of the country, has not been working in that way," she said. She added that the international community needs to find a new way to deal with North Korea.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump⁵ met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un three times in 2018 and 2019. The meetings failed to get North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.

The Biden administration is working on a new policy for North Korea, U.S. National Security Adviser⁶ Jake Sullivan told reporters on February 4. He said the effort "is under way."

Most experts, however, see little hope of any progress toward denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula.

Words in This Story

ballistic missiles – adj. weapons that can travel very great distances carrying explosives

sanctions – n. measures taken against a country to cause it to observe international law

cyber –adj. related to computers or things that take place over the internet

hack³ –v. to secretly get into computer files or a network in order to take information or cause damage

fraud – n. a crime of using dishonest methods to take something valuable from another person or people

1 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 hack   

n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳

参考例句：

• He made a hack at the log.他朝圆木上砍了一下。
• Early settlers had to hack out a clearing in the forest where they could grow crops.早期移民不得不在森林里劈出空地种庄稼。

4 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

5 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

6 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。