According to the BBC, between 2020 and mid-2021 cyber-attackers stole more than $50 million worth of digital assets to fund Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programme.

The findings were handed to the UN's sanctions committee on Friday. The cyber-attacks targeted at least three cryptocurrency exchanges in North America, Europe, and Asia.

The report also referenced a study published last month by the security firm Chainalysis that suggested North Korean cyberattacks could have netted as much as $400 million worth of digital assets last year. And in 2019, the UN reported that North Korea had accumulated an estimated $2 billion for its weapons of mass destruction programmes by using sophisticated cyber-attacks.

Best Korea carried out nine missile tests last month.