U.S. Cracks Down on N. Korea, Offers $15M Rewards

Today, the Departments of State, Justice, and the Treasury are executing coordinated, decisive actions to keep Americans safe from North Korea's malicious and illicit revenue generation schemes. The Department of State's Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program (TOCRP) is offering rewards totaling up to $15 million for information leading to the arrests and/or convictions, in any country, of North Korean nationals Sim Hyon-sop and six co-conspirators involved in these schemes.

North Korea's revenue generation schemes-which include cryptocurrency theft, illicit information technology (IT) work, trafficking in counterfeit goods, oil smuggling, and other transnational criminal activities-often target U.S. companies and U.S. citizens to raise funds for North Korea's dangerous and unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs, which threaten the U.S. homeland and stand in contravention of UN and U.S. sanctions. In many cases, these ballistic missiles have been unlawfully transferred to Russia, where they have been used to strike Ukrainian territory, including Kyiv.

Today's actions illustrate the U.S. government's commitment to mitigating such threats posed by North Korea to protect U.S. companies, the U.S. financial system, and American citizens. The United States will not stand idly by while North Korea profits from criminal activity to fund its destabilizing actions.

Sim Hyon-Sop and six co-conspirators were charged for their role in illicit activities to buy and sell tobacco from North Korea to gain access to U.S. dollars. The Department of State's reward offers include an increase of up to $7 million for Sim Hyon-Sop, up to $3 million each for Myong Chol-Min and Kim Se-Un, and up to $500,000 each for Kim Yong-Bok, Kim Chol-Min, a/k/a "Jack," Ri Tong-Min, a/k/a "Elvis," and Ri Won-Ho.

Sim Hyon-Sop and some of his co-conspirators-including Kim Se-Un-have also been involved in illicit IT worker schemes. North Korea dispatches thousands of IT workers abroad to orchestrate fraudulent IT work, often from Russia and China. Today, the Department of the Treasury is designating Korea Sobaeksu Trading Company, which has previously deployed IT workers to Vietnam, and three North Korean nationals, including Kim Se Un, Myong Chol Min, and Jo Kyong Hun, who have been involved in illicit revenue generation schemes. North Korea's overseas networks provide it with access to technology, illicit finance networks, and facilitators to support its revenue generation to fund UN and U.S. sanctioned entities including the Munitions Industry Department and Ministry of Atomic Energy and Industry. The Department of State continues to engage foreign countries that support North Korean IT workers in order to prevent the targeting of Americans by North Korean revenue generation schemes.

In addition, Christina Marie Chapman, an American citizen, will be sentenced today in the District of Columbia for her role in a North Korean IT worker scheme that defrauded more than 300 U.S. companies, including Fortune 500 corporations. North Korean IT workers specifically target remote jobs with U.S. companies due to the high salaries, which they remit back to North Korea to fund the unlawful production of WMD and ballistic missiles.

Today's individual reward offers are authorized by the Secretary under the TOCRP, which supports law enforcement efforts to disrupt transnational crime globally and bring fugitives to justice. If you have information, please send tips to the FBI via phone/text/WhatsApp at +1-480-695-1388. If you are located outside of the United States, you can also visit the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate. If you are in the United States, you can also contact the local FBI field office.

THE IDENTITIES OF ANYONE PROVIDING TIPS WILL BE KEPT STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL. Per 22 U.S.C. section 2708(f), government officials and employees are not eligible for rewards if information is provided in the performance of official duties.