From 2022 to 2025, Kim Jong Un made $22 billion North Korea has turned the entire country into a hybrid operation: arms dealer + hacker group + global remote outsourcing company. According to Bloomberg Economics, North Korea's foreign exchange earnings from 2022 to 2025 are estimated to reach as high as $22 billion—nearly 4 times the amount from the previous four years. Weapons, overseas labor, coal, crypto theft, and IT workers are collectively keeping this heavily sanctioned country afloat. The most outrageous part? Cryptocurrency. By the end of 2025, hackers linked to North Korea had stolen a total of $6.75 billion in crypto assets; in 2025 alone, they swiped $2.02 billion. In the first half of 2026, another $643 million was attributed to them, accounting for 66% of global crypto hacking losses during that period. Roughly pieced together, the historical total exceeds $7.3 billion. AI is now scaling up another revenue stream. North Korean IT workers are using AI to generate profile pictures and resumes, create deepfake videos for interviews, overcome language barriers, and impersonate multiple identities to infiltrate Western companies. The U.S. Treasury Department reported that this state-organized IT worker program generated nearly $800 million in revenue in 2024 alone. Some workers even steal data, extort employers, or pave the way for future cyberattacks after being hired. Just looking at 2024: Crypto theft: ~$1.34 billion + IT worker program: ~$800 million = surface total: ~$2.14 billion At the bottom level, AI is used to mass-produce "foreign programmers." At the middle level, remote salaries create steady cash flow. At the top level, internal access and professional hacker teams enable thefts worth hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars. So, has sanctions stopped North Korea from making money? North Korea has found a completely different model of globalization: Sell weapons to Russia, infiltrate Western companies with workers, and steal crypto assets directly from the internet. North Korea has combined cybercrime, AI identity forgery, and national finance into a fully developed industrial chain.