N Korea Developing Nuclear Weapons, Evading Sanctions: UN report

An confidential United Nations assessment that Reuters received on Thursday claims that North Korea continued to produce nuclear fissile material and manufacture nuclear bombs in 2023 despite the absence of sanctions that were meant to cut off funding for Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

A UN Security Council committee received a report from independent sanctions monitors stating that "DPRK (North Korean) hackers reportedly continued to successfully target cyber cryptocurrency and other financial exchanges worldwide" in the wake of a record-breaking amount of cyber thefts in 2022, estimated at $1.7 billion.

North Korea has been charged with employing cyberattacks to help finance its nuclear and missile programs, according to the monitors, who submit reports to the council twice a year. Allegations of hacking or other cyberattacks have been refuted by North Korea.

Requests for comment on the story were not immediately answered by the North Korean delegation to the UN in New York.