How does North Korea raise billions of dollars for new ballistic missiles? [TKB WORLD]

North Korea is one of the few countries in the world where people from other countries know little about it. The borders of this country ruled by Kim Jong Un have been sealed for decades. There is no trace of anything like the Internet on this land. In this country neither any outsider is able to go nor the people there get any information about the outside world.

Some reports claim that the condition of the people there is very bad and there is a large population in the grip of poverty and hunger. But even if the world gets any information about North Korea, then there are nuclear programs, daily ballistic missile tests, threats of missile attacks from neighboring South Korea to America, which is thousands of miles away.

North Korea has been facing international sanctions since 2006 over its nuclear programs. This question always arises in the minds of people all over the world that such a country which neither does business with any other country, nor is connected to any country, neither industry nor multinational companies have access to it. In such a situation, where is the money of hundreds of billions of dollars coming to North Korea for making new missiles?

What is said in the UN report?

In the latest report of the UN, doubts have been raised about North Korea’s progress on nuclear programs, while concerns have also been expressed about the intensification of missiles program. The report said that North Korea is in the direction of developing missiles, rapidly deploying them, transporting them by sea and rapidly increasing missile strength.

For the past few years, North Korea of ​​Kim Jong Un has been continuously testing missiles, ballistic missiles. North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un claims that he has missiles to hit America. In January 2021, just before US President Biden took power, North Korea tested a ballistic missile from a submarine, calling it the world’s most dangerous weapon. Since then, there has been a series of continuous missile tests and firing them towards the Japanese sea in a year.

From where does North Korea raise money?

The UN report says that cyber-attacks on cryptocurrency exchanges to raise money for its nuclear programs and missiles is the main source of income for this country. This report was presented before the UNSC Sanctions Committee. The report said that raising money from cyber attacks on crypto currency exchanges and financial institutions is the biggest source of income for North Korea. North Korean cyberattackers stole more than $50 million from three cryptocurrency exchanges in North America, Europe and Asia by cyberattacks in the year 2020 and by mid-2021. It also referred to last month’s report by cybersecurity firm China Analysis, which said that North Korea carried out more than 7 cyber attacks on cryptocurrency platforms last year to extort more than $400 million from digital assets. UN Monitor’s 2019 report also mentions that North Korea raised about $3 billion from cyber attacks for its weapons programs.

In the latest UN report, it has been said that due to the corona epidemic, strictness on the borders has also increased. In such a situation, North Korea has increased the illegal trade and business of luxury items very rapidly, defying the sanctions. In the sanctions imposed since 2006, where the UN had banned the export of coal, iron, lead, textiles, seafood from North Korea, it also banned the import of crude oil and other petroleum products, but the sea along the border areas. A lot of money was made through the movement of these things through illegal means.