This latest round of trilateral coordination among the U.S., Japan, and South Korea has put North Korea’s cryptocurrency money-laundering chain on full display, further increasing compliance pressure on the industry.

The U.S., Japan, and the ROK held the “Trilateral Working Group on North Korean Cyber Threats” in Washington on June 25–26 to coordinate efforts to counter North Korea’s income obtained through methods including cryptocurrency theft, money laundering, and infiltration by IT personnel. They expressed concern about losses in cases such as KelpDAO and Drift Protocol, and plan to strengthen publicity and risk warnings in regions including Europe, Southeast Asia, and Africa, as well as address the risk of North Korean IT personnel using AI-enabled fraud. They will strengthen law enforcement and coordinate with international sanctions cooperation to improve industry detection and prevention. The first round of meetings with the private sector included participants such as Coinbase, Mandiant Threat Intelligence, Polymarket, and Upwork.