241122조간용_500억_원_상당의_가상자산_탈취사건__북한소_IwmVc9F.pdf (307 KB)

South Korea's National Police Agency attributed the 2019 theft of 342,000 Ethereum from a domestic cryptocurrency exchange to North Korea, citing North Korean IP addresses, traced asset flows, North Korean vocabulary found during the investigation, and long-term cooperation with the FBI. The stolen assets were worth about 58 billion won at the time and about 1.47 trillion won at current prices cited in the release. Investigators found that more than half of the stolen cryptocurrency was converted to Bitcoin through three exchange sites believed to have been created by the attackers, while the rest was dispersed through 51 overseas exchanges for laundering. Police also recovered 4.8 Bitcoin from a Swiss cryptocurrency exchange in October 2024 after nearly four years of mutual legal assistance, and shared the attack methods with South Korean cyber, financial, military, and exchange-sector stakeholders for prevention and detection.