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[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 9963 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 9963
To authorize the Secretary of State to coordinate and engage with
allies and partners of the United States to detect, attribute, and
disrupt certain activities of North Korea, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 27, 2026
Mrs. Kim (for herself and Mr. Bera) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of State to coordinate and engage with
allies and partners of the United States to detect, attribute, and
disrupt certain activities of North Korea, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``North Korean Fraudulent Applicants
Knowingly Enriching the Regime Act'' or the ``North Korean FAKER Act''.
SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States--
(1) to counter illegal revenue generation by the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea through deceptive remote employment
and identity fraud schemes;
(2) to prevent such revenue from being used to support
North Korea's ballistic missile programs, nuclear, chemical,
and biological weapons programs, and proliferation of weapons
of mass destruction;
(3) to promote international cooperation and strengthen
international norms and standards to detect, disrupt, and deter
such programs; and
(4) to apply diplomatic tools to prevent foreign persons
from facilitating such schemes or contributing to weapons of
mass destruction proliferation networks associated with North
Korea.
SEC. 3. DIPLOMATIC COORDINATION AND COUNTER-EVASION MEASURES.
(a) International Coordination.--The Secretary of State is
authorized to coordinate with appropriate counterparts of the
governments of allied and partner countries to--
(1) align sanctions and other restrictive measures with
respect to persons who knowingly engage in, facilitate, or are
responsible for a remote information technology worker scheme
conducted on behalf of North Korea;
(2) enhance information-sharing regarding remote
information technology worker schemes, money-laundering, and
weapons of mass destruction proliferation networks in North
Korea;
(3) prioritize diplomatic engagement with countries
identified as hosting, enabling, or failing to prevent illegal
remote workforce activity by North Korea, including through
security assistance, technical training, and where appropriate,
the use of sanctions or economic measures; and
(4) develop and implement coordinated strategies and
security assistance guarantees to prevent North Korean
sanctions evasion and proliferation financing.
(b) External Engagement.--The Secretary is authorized to--
(1) engage with private sector entities with relevant
technical expertise, including cybersecurity firms, financial
institutions, digital asset platforms, and online labor
marketplaces, to enhance the ability of the United States and
its partners to detect, attribute, and disrupt activities of
North Korea described in subsection (a)(2), including weapons
of mass destruction-related proliferation support; and
(2) to address the use of artificial intelligence,
synthetic identities, and other emerging technologies in
furtherance of such activities.
(c) Rewards for Justice Program Enhancement.--Subject to the
limitations set forth in section 36(e) of the State Department Basic
Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2708(e)), the Secretary may--
(1) increase the reward offered through the Rewards for
Justice Program with respect to the activities of North Korea
described in subsection (a)(2), including illegal remote
information technology worker schemes and weapons of mass
destruction proliferation networks; and
(2) carry out such efforts as the Secretary determines
appropriate to enhance outreach, increase public awareness, and
prioritize information that facilitates the identification,
disruption, or prevention of such activities.
(d) Attribution.--The Secretary, in consultation with the relevant
heads of other Federal departments and agencies, may publicly
attribute, as appropriate, illegal remote workforce schemes and
associated entities linked to North Korea, including through
coordinated bilateral or multilateral statements and joint advisories
to increase public awareness of the weapons of mass destruction
proliferation activities of North Korea.
SEC. 4. REPORT ON ILLEGAL REMOTE WORKFORCE ACTIVITIES.
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this
Act, and annually thereafter for a period of 2 years, the Secretary
shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report that
includes with respect to the period covered by the report--
(1) an assessment of illegal remote workforce activities
conducted by or on behalf of North Korea;
(2) a description of efforts to coordinate with allies and
partners to counter such activities;
(3) an overview of actions taken to disrupt associated
networks;
(4) a description of coordination between the Department of
State and interagency partners to achieve the objectives
described in section 2; and
(5) recommendations for additional diplomatic, economic, or
legislative measures to enhance the effectiveness of such
efforts, actions, and coordination.
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House
of Representatives; and
(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations of the
Senate.
(2) Artificial intelligence.--The term ``artificial
intelligence'' has the meaning given such term in section 5002
of the National Artificial Intelligence Initiative Act of 2020
(15 U.S.C. 9401).
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