Crypto crash threatens North Korea's stolen funds as it ramps up weapons tests

Another reason (besides sticking it to organized crime, traffickers, launderers, tax cheats and speculators) to cheer the demise of crypto “currency.”

At this rate, the North will have to back to forced labor, drug smuggling and counterfeit currency.

wait.

north korean hackers?

there is no internet in north korea.

so what kind of-hackers you mean???

Gee, you'd almost think they were hacking targets outside of North Korea or something, wouldn't ya?

Hey wait I was told here that the Sanctions on North Korea worked.

Am I now being told North Korea is still around and the same people on charge and still building weapons.

Please say it ain't So! (Sarcasm off)

So years and years of sanctions against a country with almost no resou

Hey wait I was told here that the Sanctions on North Korea worked.

Am I now being told North Korea is still around and the same people on charge and still building weapons.

Please say it ain't So! (Sarcasm off)

So years and years of sanctions against a country with almost no resources and despite it all they are still around and still building nukes.

And the only good news is the crash in cryptocurrencies is causing them problems.

So if we go with how well sanctions are working on NK, they should work on Russia in about 60 years.

Hey wait I was told here that the Sanctions on North Korea worked.

Depends, what would you consider to be working?

Strangerland

Today 03:28 pm JST

Hey wait I was told here that the Sanctions on North Korea worked.

> Depends, what would you consider to be working?

Lets see, stopping them from getting nukes would be one, stopping then from developing ICMBs would be another, ending a dictatorship/authoritarian repressive regime, ending the threat to isn't neighbours, etc...

How about stuff like that and not your version where the peasants are the only ones suffering.

But hey you think Kim staying in power firing missiles is an example of sanctions working great.

But I wouldn't like to see what you consider not working,

So years and years of sanctions against a country with almost no resources and despite it all they are still around and still building nukes.

Mmmm, yes I see. Of course its also resulted in them having an economy so small that fluctuations in the value of a few crypto coins that they stole is having a macro-economic effect on their country.

rainyday

Today 03:47 pm JST

So years and years of sanctions against a country with almost no resources and despite it all they are still around and still building nukes.

> Mmmm, yes I see. Of course its also resulted in them having an economy so small that fluctuations in the value of a few crypto coins that they stole is having a macro-economic effect on their country

So tell me has the regime collapsed? No.

Does the regime still have a million man army ready to attack the South? Yes

Does the regime now possess nuclear weapons! Yes.

Does the regime now have missiles to deliver those nukes! Yes.

Is the regime still expanding its missile capability? Yes.

So now what did the sanctions accomplish? A bad economy.

Wow that must really bother the Kim dynasty, I guess they will need to take away a few more rations if rice from the peasants to buy some most champagne and caviar.

at least they didnt convert it all to UST

Lets see, stopping them from getting nukes would be one, stopping then from developing ICMBs would be another, ending a dictatorship/authoritarian repressive regime, ending the threat to isn't neighbours, etc...

Ahh, the old absolutist stance. If you don't get absolutely everything, they are meaningless.

AKA the fatalistic pessimist.

Realistically, sanctions only apply pressure to achieve the goals you list above, they alone cannot stop them, if the country they are applied against is willing to grin and bear the pain that comes with it. North Korea is a good example of this. You call the sanctions a failure, because NK is still rattling sabers, but we have quarantined NK from the rest of the planet. They can't go anywhere, they can't do anything, they have massive poverty, famine, disease, and they aren't allowed to participate in humanity.

If you want to ensure that NK does not have nukes, develope ICBMs, and have an oppressive regime, the only alternative, literally the only one, is war. In this world, where we don't have an overriding world authority that has reach into every corner of the planet, in the end, power makes the decisions. The US could easily go in and destroy both NK and Russia. They don't even have to go anywhere, it's a few button pushes. Of course, MAD means that Russia and NK would shoot back. But yeah, that MAD also means that Russia and NK can't use their nuclear weapons either, for the same reasons.

If we fight, that brings us all down. We live together, or die apart. So our options to apply leverage are sanctions, or war. Right now, the democratic world is applying sanctions, rather than attacking Russia to defend Ukraine.

So the options are:

1) Continue with the sanctions as-is, in an attempt to help Ukraine

2) Declare war with Russia, destroy the nation, and thereby defend Ukraine

3) Step back and let Russia do whatever they want with Ukraine

Three options. I personally support number one. Which one are you in favor of? Or do you have a fourth option?

What stranger said. Without the existing sanctions, NK would be MUCH farther down the road.

To be sure, the sanctions could be cranked up, fine tuned, choose your term. Personally I would love to see their coal ships delivering and oilers receiving “magically” sink with the loss of their cargos.

But the idea that because we haven’t gotten everything we want, sanctions are ineffective and should be dropped is farcical.

Just ask the round one how much he cares about the sanctions.

Strangerland

Today 05:24 pm JST

And

Nemo

Today 05:37 pm JST

One problem and the fly in the ointment.

I am older and have a memory.

Anyone remember how east Europe and the Soviet Union fell?

Right!

It was when they opened up when the people could see what they are missing, when the authorities couldn't keep lying to them and controlling everything.

Now all we do is make it easier for the powers in charge to control the little they have.

Yep like I said sanctions don't work you know it and so does

North Korea, Cuba, Iran, Russia.

They are laughing at you and you don't even realize it.

EastmanToday  02:33 pm JST

wait.

north korean hackers?

there is no internet in north korea.

Not for the civilians. But certainly for groups backed by the DPRK PLA.

"Three North Korean Military Hackers Indicted in Wide-Ranging Scheme to Commit Cyberattacks and Financial Crimes Across the Globe

Indictment Expands 2018 Case that Detailed Attack on Sony Pictures and Creation of WannaCry Ransomware by Adding Two New Defendants and Recent Global Schemes to Steal Money and Cryptocurrency from Banks and Businesses while Operating in North Korea, China"

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/three-north-korean-military-hackers-indicted-wide-ranging-scheme-commit-cyberattacks-and

AntiquesavingToday  06:08 pm JST

One problem and the fly in the ointment.

I am older and have a memory.

Anyone remember how east Europe and the Soviet Union fell?

Right!

It was when they opened up when the people could see what they are missing, when the authorities couldn't keep lying to them and controlling everything.

Don't know how old you're claiming to be (and don't care) but I watched the Berlin wall coming down on TV, just 7 months after I watched footage of Tanks moving on students in Tianamen square.

There are multiple reasons for the USSR's collapse, with Gorbachev's Glastnost and Perestroika playing a large role. But the Soviet economy was likely the most significant. And the West is hitting the Russian economy hard.

Antique,

Im that age too, buddy. Dropped before my 20 old eyes after watching since my young years (much better vision then)….

The problem with your analysis is that the E Germans could get W. German tv and there was a limit to what the dictators would do to keep power w the exception of Romania and they got smart and lined Nicolai up against a wall along with his wife and ventilated them .

the North will never allow its population to get readily available media and there is no limit to what they will do. It’s apples and oranges there is Western educated, experienced intellectual class yearning for better

So the sanctions should stay. Even if they do not bring the downfall of the regime, it will limit their freedom of action.

Nemo et al, well said.

1) Continue with the sanctions as-is, in an attempt to help Ukraine

2) Declare war with Russia, destroy the nation, and thereby defend Ukraine

3) Step back and let Russia do whatever they want with Ukraine

Which one do you support Antiquesaving? Or is there a fourth option?

Hey wait I was told here that the Sanctions on North Korea worked.

Sanctions only work if they aren't bypassed by close neighbor countries with names that rhyme with "Ida".

/s

NK internet connectivity goes through China. We know that the CCP has a complete hold on all aspects of their internet, so acting like NK is doing any cyber stuff without the approval of the CCP is stupid. After all, a popular Chinese man, Li Jiaqi, selling lipstick had his livestream taken offline in a few minutes after a co-host handed him an ice cream cake shaped like a tank on June 4th. He missed a number of scheduled live streams in the following weeks.

Li Jiaqi doesn't know anything about 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. He's too young and the CCP has scrubbed it from all history and the Chinese filtered internet.

https://247newsaroundtheworld.com/news/top-china-livestreamer-goes-offline-after-showing-ice-cream-tank-on-tiananmen-square-anniversary/

The point is that the CCP govt approves and aids NK in their cracking efforts. Most people in the world have no idea how bad these attacks are. I see thousands every day and that's after I've already blocked huge swaths of the internet from any access at all. To be fair, I also block lots of companies located in Northern Virginia and Maryland if they become abusive too. MSFT corporate has been blocked over a decade when they got hacked and had their corporate servers used to launch internet attacks too.

What a shame.

Guess they're going to have to up their Meth (Sha'bu) imports to Japan now, via china, of course

NK internet connectivity goes through China. We know that the CCP has a complete hold on all aspects of their internet, so acting like NK is doing any cyber stuff without the approval of the CCP is stupid.

Are you certain? Do you know what a VPN is? Or TOR? Even in China I can access internet sites from all over the world without the Chinese internet nannies seeing my ip address or what sites I visit. I can read harsh criticisms of Chinese barbarities against the Uighurs from the comfort of the living room in Shanghai. I can likewise write whatever I wish from the same Shanghai living room while enjoying a fresh bao from a nearby restaurant. The Great Firewall is porous indeed if you have the right tools.

Here is a great account of DPRK government organized hacking and theft using their military intelligence organization, the Reconnaissance General Bureau.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/04/26/the-incredible-rise-of-north-koreas-hacking-army

there is no internet in north korea.

Sure there is. Many nations have perfectly normal diplomatic and commercial relations with China that require internet connectivity. Airlines fly in and out of North Korea every day. Ships enter and leave port. Not everything DPRK makes or buys is subject to sanctions. They are trying to become a resort destination and have spent lavishly to develop a beachfront resort in Wonsan immediately adjacent the international airport catering to foreign tourists.

Whaaaaat? You’re telling me a fake currency made up by libertarian tech bros with more dollar than sense, backed by nothing, and regulated by no one has crashed and burned??

Say it ain’t so, Joe!

Watching the crypto scene as someone with a functioning brain has been the most hilarious hobby I’ve found. I still get chuckles every time I think about Seth Green in a desperate hostage negotiation over an ugly monkey .jpeg.