https://biz.chosun.com/en/en-international/2025/05/07/2I7GIBCGKRABJBVTARFQOOJ23U/

The Donald Trump administration is set to sanction a Cambodian financial company that laundered illegal funds obtained by North Korea through cryptocurrency hacking. This marks the first action taken by the Trump administration against North Korea's illegal cyber operations.

According to foreign media including Reuters on the 6th (local time), the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) designated the Cambodian financial corporation Huione as a "major money laundering concern" and announced that it would block access to the U.S. financial system.

This action is in accordance with Section 311 of the USA PATRIOT Act, which prohibits U.S. financial institutions from establishing or maintaining correspondent banking relationships with the Huione Group.

According to the Treasury Department, the Huione Group laundered at least $4 billion (about 5.6 trillion won) in illegal funds from August 2021 to January 2025. Included in this amount are at least $37 million (about 5.18 billion won) in cryptocurrency stolen by North Korea through hacking and $36 million (about 5.04 billion won) obtained through online fraud from large-scale scam operations in Southeast Asia.

Minister Scott Bezent noted, "The Huione Group has established itself as a market favored by malicious cybercriminals from organizations such as North Korea."

In particular, it is reported that Huione Pay, a subsidiary of the Huione Group, received over $150,000 (about 210 million won) in cryptocurrency from a digital wallet used by the North Korean hacking group Lazarus from June 2023 to February 2024.

Huione is well known as a QR code payment operator used in Cambodia's hotels, restaurants, and supermarkets. According to The New York Times (NYT), Hun To, a cousin of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, serves as a director at one of the Huione subsidiaries.