U.S. Posts $15M Reward in North Korea Counterfeit Tobacco Scheme Linked to WMDs

The U.S. State Department has announced a reward of up to $15 million for information leading to the arrest or conviction of seven North Korean nationals accused of funding North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) program through a counterfeit tobacco operation.

The announcement, made on July 24 under the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program (TOCRP), identified the individuals as Se-Un Kim, Won-Ho Ri, Yong-Bok Kim, Chol-Min Kim, Hyon-Sop Sim, Chol-Min Myong, and Tong-Min Ri. All seven have been indicted in Washington, D.C. federal court for violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), as well as bank fraud and money laundering.

The reward amounts vary. Hyon-Sop Sim has the highest bounty at $7 million, followed by Se-Un Kim and Chol-Min Myong at $3 million each. The remaining individuals are subject to $500,000 rewards.

According to the State Department, the group operated shell companies to smuggle raw tobacco products into North Korea, laundered payments in U.S. dollars, and concealed the regime’s involvement from intermediary banks. They allegedly produced and sold counterfeit cigarettes, funneling proceeds directly to the North Korean government. U.S. officials believe these illicit revenues have helped sustain North Korea’s WMD development since at least 1992.

On the same day, an Arizona woman was sentenced to 8 years and 6 months in prison for aiding North Korean IT workers in fraudulently securing jobs at 309 U.S. companies. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Christina Chapman stole the identities of 68 U.S. citizens to fabricate work profiles and used more than 90 laptops at her home to make it appear that the workers were based in the U.S. Authorities said the scheme generated over $17 million in revenue for Chapman and her North Korean collaborators.

BY KYEONGJUN KIM [kim.kyeongjun1@koreadaily.com]