The United States on Tuesday sanctioned two individuals and one entity involved in a network that launders illicit funds generated by North Korean IT workers and cybercrime to support Pyongyang, the Treasury Department said.

The department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added two Chinese nationals and a UAE-based front company, named Green Alpine Trading, LLC, to its sanctions list. It accused them of facilitating money laundering and cryptocurrency conversion services that funneled proceeds back to Pyongyang.

"As the DPRK continues to use complex criminal schemes to fund its WMD and ballistic missile programs—including through the exploitation of digital assets—Treasury remains focused on disrupting the networks that facilitate this flow of funds to the regime," Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley Smith said in a release.

DPRK is short for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, while WMD stands for weapons of mass destruction.

"The United States, along with the UAE and our other partners, will continue to target the financial networks that enable the Kim regime's destabilizing activities," the official added.

On Monday, the US designated 11 individuals and eight entities for their actions enabling the North and supporting Russia. (Yonhap)