(MENAFN) Australia on Thursday announced financial sanctions and travel bans against four organizations and one individual, accusing them of using cybercrime to support North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.

In a statement, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the measures followed evidence that cyber actors linked to North Korea were engaged in large-scale cryptocurrency theft, fraudulent IT operations, and espionage to bypass sanctions and fund the nation’s weapons activities.

Citing a report from the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team, which oversees UN sanctions compliance on North Korea, Wong noted that North Korean hackers stole at least $1.9 billion in cryptocurrency worldwide in 2024. The report detailed how a global network of North Korean nationals and foreign accomplices was used to launder these stolen digital assets.

"The Australia Government is taking this action with the United States to apply pressure on North Korea’s illegal revenue generation networks and address its persistent challenges to security and stability," she said.

The move comes days after the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on eight individuals and two entities for their role in laundering funds from North Korea’s "illicit schemes," which included cybercrime and exploitation of overseas IT workers.

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