U.S. charges North Korean over cyberattacks

The United States has charged a 34-year-old North Korean for allegedly playing a key role in cyberattacks on Sony Pictures and other entities since 2014.
Shortly after,... the U.S. Treasury Department slapped sanctions on the same individual.
Lee Seung-jae reports.
The U.S. Department of Justice has brought charges against computer programmer Park Jin-hyok,... accusing him of being involved in a number of cyberattacks,... including the attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment in 2014.

"We have unsealed criminal charges against a North Korean computer programmer for participating in a conspiracy that conducted sophisticated cyberattacks around the world on behalf of the North Korea government. Members of the conspiracy are responsible for some of the most damaging and most well known cyber intrusions in history including the cyberattack targeting Sony Pictures, the cyber heist of Bangladesh Bank and creating the WannaCry ransomware."

The U.S. Department of Treasury also announced sanctions on the same individual. It said the 34-year-old worked on behalf of the North Korean government or the ruling Workers' Party of Korea as an employee of the Chosun Expo Joint Venture.
The department also sanctioned the agency, stating that all property and interests of both Chosun Expo and Park within the U.S. or in the possession of U.S. citizens must be frozen.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the United States "will not allow North Korea to undermine global cybersecurity to advance it interests and generate illicit revenues" in violation of sanctions.
Mnuchin added the U.S. is committed to "holding the regime accountable for its cyberattacks and other crimes and destabilizing activities."
In 2014,... U.S. officials said unnamed North Korean hackers were responsible for a major cyber intrusion into Sony Pictures,... which resulted in leaked internal documents and data being destroyed.
The attacks came after the North sent a letter to the UN,... demanding that Sony not move forward with the movie "The Interview" that portrayed the U.S.-backed assassination of a character made to look like North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.