{
	"id": "0417c647-2b98-4960-959d-27915f64b76b",
	"created_at": "2026-04-06T00:14:53.486524Z",
	"updated_at": "2026-04-10T13:11:31.89346Z",
	"deleted_at": null,
	"sha1_hash": "f7efc87286f43886b2b27662f93784e9a40f13d1",
	"title": "US hits senior North Korean officials with sanctions, $3 million bounties",
	"llm_title": "",
	"authors": "",
	"file_creation_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
	"file_modification_date": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z",
	"file_size": 70857,
	"plain_text": "US hits senior North Korean officials with sanctions, $3 million\r\nbounties\r\nBy Jonathan Greig\r\nPublished: 2025-07-24 · Archived: 2026-04-05 17:55:41 UTC\r\nThree senior North Korean officials involved in IT schemes have been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury\r\nDepartment.\r\nKim Se Un, Jo Kyong Hun and Myong Chol Min are accused of helping North Korea evade U.S. and United\r\nNations sanctions through an IT worker plot that involved tricking companies into hiring North Koreans using\r\nstolen identities. \r\nU.S. law enforcement action centered on Korea Sobaeksu Trading Company — a North Korean company\r\nallegedly used as a front for the country’s Munitions Industry Department, which oversees the DPRK’s nuclear\r\nprogram and is involved in the development of ballistic missiles.\r\nNorth Korean officials ran the IT worker scheme through the company and used it to operate in Vietnam as well as\r\nother countries. U.S. officials added that Sobaeksu “has been involved in nuclear procurement activities on behalf\r\nof the Munitions Industry Department.”\r\nKim Se Un is a representative of the company and helps run subordinate companies in Vietnam.  The State\r\nDepartment said it authorized a reward offer up to $3 million for information leading to Kim Se’s arrest or\r\nconviction.\r\nJo Kyong Hun, an associate of Kim Se, was also sanctioned and is accused of being a team leader among the IT\r\nworkers, helping generate revenue for Pyongyang through cryptocurrency and other projects. \r\nThe Treasury Department included another Kim Se subordinate, Myong Chol Min, in the sanctions, writing that in\r\naddition to facilitating the IT worker scheme, he tried to import tobacco and other products into North Korea. A $3\r\nmillion bounty for his whereabouts was announced as well. \r\n“The DPRK relies on front companies like Korea Sobaesku Trading Company and key facilitators to procure\r\nmaterials and generate revenue for the regime’s illegal nuclear and ballistic missile programs,” said Bradley\r\nSmith, director of the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. \r\nAn American woman was sentenced to more than eight years in prison on Thursday for her role in running laptop\r\nfarms on behalf of the North Korean operation. North Korea has been able to earn millions from getting workers\r\nhired in high-paying roles at U.S. companies. \r\nThe regime withholds most of the wages earned by the IT workers and in some cases, workers have used malware\r\nto steal information from the companies that hired them. \r\nhttps://therecord.media/us-sanctions-north-korean-officers-it-worker-scheme\r\nPage 1 of 3\n\nThe scheme is used specifically to fund North Korea’s ballistic missile programs, according to the State\r\nDepartment. \r\nOfficials said the ballistic missiles produced through the effort have in some cases been transferred to Russia\r\nwhere they are used to target Ukraine. \r\nThe State Department issued a $7 million bounty for information on Sim Hyon-Sop and $500,000 for Kim Yong-Bok, Kim Chol-Min, Ri Tong-Min and Ri Won-Ho.\r\nThe FBI also released a guide for HR teams to use as assistance for detecting North Korean IT workers during the\r\ninterview process. \r\nAlongside the actions announced by the Treasury Department, the Justice Department unsealed indictments\r\nagainst seven North Korean nationals accused of trafficking counterfeit cigarettes.\r\nGet more insights with the\r\nRecorded Future\r\nIntelligence Cloud.\r\nLearn more.\r\nNo previous article\r\nNo new articles\r\nhttps://therecord.media/us-sanctions-north-korean-officers-it-worker-scheme\r\nPage 2 of 3\n\nJonathan Greig\r\nis a Breaking News Reporter at Recorded Future News. Jonathan has worked across the globe as a journalist since\r\n2014. Before moving back to New York City, he worked for news outlets in South Africa, Jordan and Cambodia.\r\nHe previously covered cybersecurity at ZDNet and TechRepublic.\r\nSource: https://therecord.media/us-sanctions-north-korean-officers-it-worker-scheme\r\nhttps://therecord.media/us-sanctions-north-korean-officers-it-worker-scheme\r\nPage 3 of 3",
	"extraction_quality": 1,
	"language": "EN",
	"sources": [
		"ETDA"
	],
	"origins": [
		"web"
	],
	"references": [
		"https://therecord.media/us-sanctions-north-korean-officers-it-worker-scheme"
	],
	"report_names": [
		"us-sanctions-north-korean-officers-it-worker-scheme"
	],
	"threat_actors": [],
	"ts_created_at": 1775434493,
	"ts_updated_at": 1775826691,
	"ts_creation_date": 0,
	"ts_modification_date": 0,
	"files": {
		"pdf": "https://archive.orkl.eu/f7efc87286f43886b2b27662f93784e9a40f13d1.pdf",
		"text": "https://archive.orkl.eu/f7efc87286f43886b2b27662f93784e9a40f13d1.txt",
		"img": "https://archive.orkl.eu/f7efc87286f43886b2b27662f93784e9a40f13d1.jpg"
	}
}