Jerseys' exposure to North Korea and PF RISK through data analysis of the 10 most common names in the Korean peninsula.

In Jersey’s National Risk Assessment [NRA]: Proliferation Financing [PF], APRIL 2025, an assessment of the risks of proliferation financing facing JERSEY to assist stakeholders in understanding and mitigating the risk of Jersey being abused or misused for:-

• Financing the procurement of weapons of mass destruction.

JERSEY  ensures that all businesses operating in or from within Jersey (including financial services businesses)

• Entities registered with the Jersey Financial Services Commission (JFSC) Registry [JFSCR], and
• Those administered under the Control of Borrowing (Jersey) Law 1947), are aware of their obligations and allow them to implement appropriate systems and controls to mitigate their PF risks.

As part of the assessment, and in an effort to consider data as thoroughly as possible with respect to the DPRK and to recognise that individuals will try to hide their DPRK connections,

• The JFSCR undertook an exercise to identify the beneficial owners and controllers of Jersey companies using the top 10 most common names in the Korean peninsula.

In doing this analysis, the following was highlighted.

• The top two most common Korean surnames are “Kim” and “Lee”; this caused a level of complexity, as these are first names for both males and females in the Western world.
• This complexity was compounded by the fact that Korean names are often written as “surname, first name”.
• In total, “Lee” and “Kim” were present in 87% of the identified names of interest.

Despite this, based on the work completed, no suspicions were raised, although many assumptions were required to manage the data and complete the exercise. 

CONCLUSION

Jersey’s PF NRA represents a key component of JERSEY'S commitment; by systematically identifying and assessing the risks associated with PF, the PF NRA enables Jersey to strengthen its defences against this global threat and to contribute effectively to the international non-proliferation regime

The overall PF risk for Jersey, based on the considerations outlined in this report of threats, vulnerabilities and mitigating measures, is considered

• Medium-Low.

Source

https://www.gov.je/Industry/Finance/FinancialCrime/NationalRiskAssesmnents/Pages/ProliferationofRiskAssessment.aspx

https://www.gov.je/SiteCollectionDocuments/Industry%20and%20finance/PF%20NRA%20Monday%2028%20April.pdf