- The U.S. FBI said it is seeking Sim Hyon-sop, a North Korean national working in the financial sector, naming him a key figure in virtual asset money laundering.
- Sim Hyon-sop is said to have laundered virtual assets to funnel funds stolen by North Korean hackers and IT personnel to the Kim Jong Un regime.
- The FBI said it will pay up to $7 million reward for decisive information leading to his arrest.
- The article was summarized using an artificial intelligence-based language model.
- Due to the nature of the technology, key content in the text may be excluded or different from the facts.
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is publicly seeking a North Korean national working in the financial sector who is known to have laundered virtual assets (cryptocurrency) for North Korea.
On the 27th (Korean time), the FBI said in a statement that Sim Hyon-sop is a key figure in North Korea's virtual asset money laundering and that he has laundered virtual assets stolen by North Korean hackers and IT personnel over a long period to support the Kim Jong Un regime.
According to investigators, Sim is one of the employees of North Korea's state-owned banks operating overseas. He is known to have worked in the Middle East under aliases such as 'Sim Ali' or 'Sim Hajim.' The FBI said it will pay up to $7 million (about 9 billion won) for decisive information leading to Sim's capture.
Sim is accused of using paper companies and financial brokers to conceal the source of funds and of using laundered funds to purchase key supplies.
U.S. authorities say Sim Hyon-sop is believed to have evaded sanctions against North Korea by processing transactions worth tens of millions of dollars through major U.S. and European banking payment networks. He is wanted on charges including bank fraud conspiracy, money laundering, and violations of sanctions against North Korea, and his exact whereabouts are currently unknown.
