North Korea is well known for being one of the most secretive and reclusive countries in the world. For years, it has been under heavy sanctions from the United Nations, the United States and other countries over its nuclear program. It has also been accused of using cyber warfare in order to gain funds to sustain its nuclear program.
RUSI (the Royal United Services Institute) is the worlds oldest independent think tank on international defence and security. The organization recently stated that North Korea has shown an increasing interest in virtual assets, as sanctions are getting harder to circumvent.
RUSI cited North Korean hackers for the alleged hijacking of crypto exchanges in South Korea as well as the WannaCry global ransomware attack that infected many computers around the world in 2017.
https://www.bitcrypt.co/southeast-asia-cryptocurrency-targeted-north-korea/