Eleven Countries and EU Vow Continued Sanctions on North Korean Overseas Workers and Cyber Activity
Global Affairs Canada on October 28 released a joint statement in which Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States, together with the European Union, pledged to maintain sanctions on North Korea (the DPRK), targeting its overseas workers, malicious cyber activity and unlawful military cooperation with Russia.
The statement said the EU, Australia and the United States implemented new sanctions during October, drawing on reports of the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT). The team's third report, published in September 2026, covered DPRK overseas labour. The MSMT was established in October 2024 after Russia's 2024 veto ended the mandate of the UN Security Council's 1718 Committee Panel of Experts.
The signatories said North Korean overseas workers earn foreign currency that funds Pyongyang's weapons programmes, and its cyber operatives profit from remote IT work and cryptocurrency theft. They called on all states to repatriate DPRK workers as required by UN Security Council resolutions and to guard against North Korean cyber operations.
The statement reaffirmed the goal of the complete and verifiable denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula and called on Pyongyang to return to dialogue.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 照片：朝鲜半岛非军事区板门店，calflier001 摄，Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 2.0 授权 / Photo of Panmunjom in the DMZ by calflier001, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
