The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned two North Koreans and four entities for allegedly generating illicit revenue for the North’s weapons programs by using its highly skilled IT workers abroad.

The department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced the sanctions Thursday in a press release.

The targets include Department 53 of the Ministry of the People’s Armed Forces and two of its front companies: Korea Osong Shipping and Chonsurim Trading Corporation. 

The U.S. said that in addition to selling advanced conventional weapons and military-grade communications equipment, Department 53 generates revenue by using front companies in a variety of industrial sectors, including IT and software development. 

The two individuals on the list are Jong In-chol, the head of Chonsurim’s North Korean IT worker delegation in Laos, and Son Kyong-sik, the China-based chief representative of Osong.

Acting Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Bradley Smith said North Korea continues to rely on its thousands of overseas IT workers to generate revenue for the regime, to finance its illegal weapons programs, and to enable its support of Russia’s war in Ukraine.