Look at this.
This is the North Korean leader, Kim
Jong un, surrounded by adoring
children, hugging their dear leader.
You see him there smiling all in
this was at North Korea's fifth
National Conference of Mothers.
Now, much of the loyalty that Kim demands
is rooted in his promises
to destroy the West
with his nuclear arsenal
that we are now learning was funded
by billions of dollars,
billions of dollars in stolen crypto.
Will Ripley is OUTFRONT.
Every North Korean missile
test, every satellite launch,
every nuclear test likely cost.
Kim Jong un is cash starved country.
Millions of dollars.
Where does that money come from?
How does Kim's regime evade
heavy sanctions,
advancing its nuclear and ballistic
missile programs at breakneck speed?
We certainly believe that
North Korean
hacking of cryptocurrency
around infrastructure around the world
is a major source of revenue
for the regime.
A staggering
more than $3 billion in stolen crypto
over the past five years.
U.S.
lawmakers say
a record $1.7 billion last year alone.
So where does that money go?
Straight into North Korea's
illegal nuclear program,
an underground pipeline of illicit wealth
fueling Kim's nuclear ambitions.
Pumping payments
into Pyongyang
from places
like Russia, China, Hong
Kong, Singapore and Vietnam.
Does that pose a threat
to our national security? It does under
the U.S.
believes North Korea
has a global shadow army
secret operatives posing
as IT professionals,
government officials,
freelance blockchain
developers, even hiring Westerners
to hide their connection to Pyongyang.
Spanish police arrested
Alejandro Calle de
Manos earlier
this month, known
as a special delegate for North Korea.
The U.S.
accuses him of helping North Korean
officials use tech for money laundering.
He posted a message on acts
formerly known as Twitter, saying
there is no extradition.
The U.S.
accusation, besides being false
does not exist in Spain.
Blacklisted by the U.S.
as modern day
digital pirates,
North Korean operatives
are linked to ransomware attacks
targeting online gaming,
gambling and banking industries,
even American hospitals.
North Korea
exploiting online vulnerabilities,
using stolen money
to mass produce missiles,
funding the Kim family's
lavish lifestyle.
Palaces, planes, yachts
and this armored Mercedes limousine
carried on Kim's
private train
to that September summit with Russian
President Vladimir Putin.
The latest breach from North Korea's
notorious Ontario hacking group
targeting South Korean
defense firms and others.
A yearlong investigation
by South Korean police and the FBI
exposing grave
vulnerabilities in Seoul's
cybersecurity defenses.
Around 250
sensitive files
1.2 terabytes of classified data stolen,
a crime
concealed through
rented servers,
a secretive trail of digital deception
leading straight to the North
Korean capital, breaching borders,
defying digital defenses,
threatening global stability.
Well, it's amazing to see these numbers.
And Bitcoin
now has posted the steepest drop
in about four months today.
Right.
The value of it
down dropped dramatically
over the past couple of years.
I mean, crypto
overall has taken a huge hit.
So in this context
that you're talking about
all this billions of dollars coming in.
How is Kim now
still making money off
of this stolen currency?
No, you're right, Erin.
It has fluctuated so much.
In 2020,
it was down to 4021, up to 69,000,
as you know.
But North Korea took this Bitcoin
and then they laundered the money.
They learned
how to basically invested in businesses
that in friendly countries
like Russia and China,
whether it be like a cargo business
or real estate, even restaurants.
So it's this really complex financial web
that's making money for North Korea.
There was investments from Bitcoin
and it's very difficult to trace.
Now, North Korea's
also making a lot of money
by doing something called Bitcoin mining,
where they verify
transactions basically
like solving mathematical equations.
It requires a huge amount of energy.
But guess what, Aaron,
Because North Korea
can't export its coal,
they use that coal.
They burn it to create the energy
to do Bitcoin mining.
Even though the nation is notorious
for blackouts
for most of the population
most of the time.
Wow, that is amazing
to the bitcoin mining
and to use that coal.
All right. Thank you very much.
Will Ripley.