Three North Korean computer programmers have been charged in the US with conspiring to steal and extort more than $1.3bn in money and cryptocurrency from banks and other companies through state-sponsored cyber hacks.
US officials unsealed the charges on Wednesday. They said they believed the three defendants — Park Jin Hyok, Jon Chang Hyok and Kim Il — were members of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, an agency of North Korea’s military intelligence, also known as the Lazarus group, or APT38.
Warrants have been issued for their arrest, although all three are believed to be in North Korea. Pyongyang has in the past denied the existence of Park Jin Hyok, who had been previously charged in a separate US case.