(Washington Insider Magazine) – North Korea is not considered to be a peace-loving country as the leaders of the country are at loggerheads with a lot of nations around the world. Since the country doesn’t have any good relations with the world many are left wondering Why Has not North Korea Collapsed? Those who want to get an answer to this question must read this post.
North Korea Has Set Up A New Breed of Bank Hacks
North Korea carried out the largest operation with its secret criminal agencies. The agencies have been hacking SWIFT, which has allowed them to hack the banks to process trillions of dollars every day in international transfers.
Several reports claim that the North Korean hacking group Lazarus (affiliated with Bureau #121) has made many high-profile breaches of the worldwide financial network. North Korea has an estimated 6,800 hackers and they are bringing in $860 million in dirty money each year.
Lazarus has funneled $81 million from the accounts of the Bangladesh central bank that were held in the U.S. Federal Reserve in New York. This attack has netted an amount of $1 billion. The same group has also made perpetrated electronic heists on banks in Ecuador, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
The country also made another binary break with the unidentified Ukrainian bank in December leaving it $10 million poorer. Russia’s central bank saw $31 million hacked and the Polish banks have been the target of an extensive malware campaign as well. The suspects are said to be hackers working for North Korea.
The Country Is Using New Tools From An Old Kit
The SWIFT attacks are the newest strategy that has come out from the Hermit Kingdom’s toolkit. North Korea continues to engage in some of the most dangerous traffickings and has trafficked illicit cigarettes, pharmaceuticals, and ivory.
According to a recent report compiled by the American human rights organization, the country has been smuggling narcotics in diplomatic bags and they have been printing high-quality counterfeit cash for 40 years.
North Korea Is Involved In Slave Labor
The country has been creative and has been making schemes for filling the financial gap. They have been selling North Korean citizens into slave labor. There are some human rights groups, who have revealed that Pyongyang has a pipeline pumping slaves that he has sent to several European countries.
The major countries that have sold slaves in their countries include Poland, Malta, Germany, Italy, Austria, and the Netherlands. Though North Korean officials are denying it many salves are reportedly working six days a week for up to 12 hours each day.
There are various shipyards, construction sites, and farms that are packed with many slave laborers from North Korea. 90 percent of their wages are sent back to Pyongyang. There are over 50,000 North Koreans that are working around the world and have been generating around $1.2 billion and $2.3 billion each year.
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Selling Weapons In The Black Market
Another illicit revenue stream that North Korea is carrying forward is by selling weapons on the black market. There is a stack of UN sanctions that have been condemning the practice but Pyongyang has been identified by human rights groups many times. According to the reports the country has been selling small arms to buyers in Iran and Syria.
Other major buyers include the Palestinian groups Hamas and the Popular Resistance Committee (PRC). North Korea is also accused of selling anti-tank missiles and they have been shipping them through Sudan or Egypt. The illegal weapon smuggling does not seem to stop anytime soon.
The Namibian government has also openly admitted that Pyongyang has built arms and ammunition factories within its borders. They also have plans to build more military infrastructure. The country is leaving no proof of doing all these acts and has been carrying out its secrets and illegal missions for many years. They have been successful in doing so as nothing is stopping them.
World leaders will be responding to North Korea’s latest enterprise. They have been making the same high-minded but toothless resolutions against Pyongyang and its coal exports. There is some major mountain of evidence that has been pointing toward North Korea engaging in highly lucrative criminal activities.
According to reports, the country has been earning billions of dollars each year through illegal means. They have been selling arms and weapons in the black market and are earning money. Kim Jong-un and his cronies are earning money through many illegal mean and nothing seems to stop them.
