Cyberslave - North Korea's State Strategy and Funding Facts

Cyberslave - North Korea's State Strategy and Funding Facts

Around 2016, when the Bangladesh Central Bank break-in occurred, North Korea was facing a serious shortage of foreign currency due to sanctions from the international community. In particular, restrictions on coal and mineral exports under UN Security Council resolutions and independent sanctions by the U.S. directly hit the country's economy, rapidly narrowing its means of obtaining foreign currency. Conventional "labor dispatch" and "smuggling" had their limits, and more daring and immediate measures were required to secure funds for regime maintenance and nuclear development.

Here, North Korea incorporated cyber crime as a national strategy. The Lazarus Group, which, like the elite units of the regular army, was considered to be an organization under the direct control of the state, stood at the forefront of foreign currency acquisition. The amount targeted in the Bangladesh Bank case amounted to approximately $950 million, a figure that would have changed North Korea's annual foreign currency earnings in a single stroke. It is believed that the stolen funds were laundered through casinos and real estate, and eventually diverted to nuclear development programs and military funding.

Behind this was North Korea's unique concept of "economic warfare" under sanctions. With the state's official economic activities blocked from generating revenue, cyberspace theft became a de facto "means of supplementing the state budget. Furthermore, cyber attacks are anonymous and less risky than direct military action. North Korea has therefore incorporated cybercrime into its national strategy as one of the "three pillars" along with arms exports and illegal trade, and has come to regard the international financial system as a "battlefield for obtaining foreign currency.

In other words, cyberslave is not merely financial hacking, but symbolizes North Korea's very survival strategy under sanctions. Taking advantage of the international order that sanctions states, North Korea secures funds for regime maintenance and nuclear development through theft in cyberspace. This structure shocked the international community as a new "state-sponsored crime model" that produced more direct economic results than espionage during the Cold War.