South Korea has sanctioned 15 North Korean IT workers and a company for allegedly helping finance Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program through illicit remote work schemes.

The new measures, which take effect on Dec. 30, target individuals affiliated with “regime-controlled entities” such as the DPRK Munitions Industry Department who secured lucrative contracts with foreign companies under false identities, Seoul’s foreign ministry announced in a press release on Thursday.

The ministry stated that Pyongyang dispatches IT professionals to territories including China, Russia, Southeast Asia and Africa to generate foreign currency, which is then used to fund nuclear and missile programs and military