South Korea debuted new sanctions against North Korean hacking syndicate Kimsuky on Friday, identifying the measures as retaliation against the DPRK’s failed satellite launch this week.

The announcement came as Seoul and Washington issued a joint cyber alert warning of the threat group’s social engineering and hacking efforts targeting Korean Peninsula experts.

“For the first time in the world, the South Korean government designated ‘Kimsuky’ as the subject of independent sanctions against North Korea,” Seoul’s foreign ministry said in a press release.

The sanctions are aimed at curbing the group’s activities targeting South Korea, the ministry said, and also