North Korea could step up cybercrimes to make up for revenue losses from China's suspension of North Korean coal imports, a news report said Monday.

China suspended North Korean coal imports Sunday through the end of the year in accordance with the latest UN Security Council resolution adopted in December to punish Pyongyang for its fifth nuclear test in September.

The resolution centers on putting a significant cap on North Korea's exports of coal -- the country's single biggest export item and source of hard currency. The cap was set at whichever is lower between 7.5 million tons or $400 million.

"The suspension of coal imports will hurt Pyongyang's pockets -- coal is responsible for around half of North Korea's foreign-currency acquisitions -- and increase pressure on the regime," Time magazine reported from Beijing.

"One likely consequence will be a spike in illicit methods of currency generation, especially cybercrime. North Korea already has an elite force of 6,800 state hackers who are engaged in global fraud, blackmail and online gambling, together generating an estimated annual revenue of $860 million," it said.

Sheena Greitens, an expert on East Asia affairs at the University of Missouri, was quoted as saying that the North's illicit activities have always been highly adaptable, and cybercrime would likely become a higher priority if other avenues of revenue generation are closed off.

The North's cyber capabilities have been a greater focus of US attention since a massive hacking attack on Sony Pictures, which Pyongyang is believed to have carried out in retaliation for Sony's release of a comedy film ridiculing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. (Yonhap)