15 IT members to mobilize foreign currency earnings from North Korea added independent sanctions against North Korea.

The government has added North Korean IT members who have been mobilized to earn illegal foreign currency through hacking, such as stealing virtual assets, to the North's independent sanctions.

Fifteen people, including Park Heung-ryong and Yoon Jeong-sik, were designated for sanctions, and they belonged to the 313 General Bureau, an agency under the Ministry of Munitions and Industry of the Workers' Party of Korea, and have been engaged in IT foreign currency earning activities while residing abroad.

They are known to be dispatched to China, Russia, Southeast Asia, and Africa to disguise their status and win work orders from IT companies around the world, while also participating in in information theft and cyberattacks.

The government also added Joseon Geumjeong Economic and Information Technology Exchange Co., Ltd., which dispatches North Korean IT personnel overseas to pay large amounts of military funds, to the agency subject to independent sanctions against North Korea.

The independent sanctions will be implemented from the 30th through the publication of the official gazette, and they will be subject to punishment if they trade without permission.

The government said it will continue its efforts to block North Korea's illegal cyber activities in cooperation with the international community with a high degree of awareness.