North Korea: A report was recently released by a U.N. Panel of Expert (PoE) which detailed a number of failings in the enforcement of sanctions on North Korea, as well as criminal activity carried out by North Korea. The report details a number of times where North Korea subverted sanctions put in place by the U.N. Security Council through various means. The report also links North Korea to the theft of approximately $571 million USD in cryptocurrency over the past two years. According to the PoE North Korea has been able to go around the current sanctions because of poor enforcement methods on the part of all parties involved. The report indicates that the only way to ensure that North Korea’s aspirations of nuclear proliferation is through stricter enforcement of the sanctions. With peace talks between the United States and North Korea continuing to progress, it is difficult to say whether any significant changes will be made to the sanctions against North Korea.
Analyst Notes
If sanctions are more strictly enforced against North Korea it will likely lead to an increase in financially motivated cyber-attacks by North Korea
