The three allies have expressed concerns about ‘malicious’ cyber-activities in support of Pyongyang’s banned weapons programmes.Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape said on Monday there had been no recent talks with China on security after the resource-rich nation signed a security agreement with neighbor Australia last week. The United States, South Korea and Japan have agreed on new efforts to respond to North Korea’s threats in cyberspace, according to national security advisers from the three countries meeting in Seoul.
The allies “launched new trilateral initiatives to counter the threats posed by the DPRK, from its cybercrime and cryptocurrency money laundering to its reckless space and ballistic missile tests,” White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters on Saturday, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
“This will be a new effort with respect to cryptocurrency and money laundering and how we disrupt North Korea’s capacity to gain revenue from the hacking and stealing of cryptocurrency and then laundering it through exchanges,” he said at a joint news conference with his Asian counterparts.
Sullivan said the meeting followed up on commitments made at a trilateral summit hosted by President Joe Biden in August, where leaders pledged to deepen security and economic cooperation. At the time, the three countries expressed deep concern over what they described as North Korea’s “malicious” cyber-activities in support of its banned weapons programmes.
