“Its diplomatic missions do not receive money directly from Pyongyang, but instead sustain their presence from construction and IT, as well as illegal trade, smuggling and money laundering.”
Not to mention North Korean state sponsored hacker groups like Lazarus being active in ransomware, digital bank heists, data ransom, and the list goes on. Just like in Russia, the North Korean government is basically a criminal organization that managed to seize a country.
“Its diplomatic missions do not receive money directly from Pyongyang, but instead sustain their presence from construction and IT, as well as illegal trade, smuggling and money laundering.”
So this “IT” is not exactly innocent either. The North Korean IT workers hide their identity to get hired by western firms as consultants and funnel that money to Korea: https://www.reuters.com/world/us-announces-seizure-17-website-domains-used-by-north-korea-it-workers-2023-10-18/
Not to mention North Korean state sponsored hacker groups like Lazarus being active in ransomware, digital bank heists, data ransom, and the list goes on. Just like in Russia, the North Korean government is basically a criminal organization that managed to seize a country.