 |
Photo = Yonhap news |
[Alpha Biz= Reporter Kim Jisun] Five years after a massive cryptocurrency theft, South Korean authorities have confirmed that North Korea was behind the 2019 incident in which ₩58 billion worth of Ethereum was stolen from the domestic cryptocurrency exchange Upbit.
This marks the first time a South Korean investigative agency has officially verified North Korea's involvement in such a hacking incident, despite prior reports from the UN and foreign governments about North Korea's activities in the crypto space.
On November 21, the Korean National Police Agency's National Investigation Bureau announced that two North Korean hacker groups, "Lazarus" and "Andariel," affiliated with North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bureau, were responsible for the theft of 342,000 Ethereum coins from Upbit in November 2019.
At the time of the theft, the stolen Ethereum was valued at ₩58 billion. Today, its value has soared to approximately ₩1.47 trillion.
The conclusion was based on evidence including North Korean IP addresses, the tracking of cryptocurrency flows, the discovery of North Korean linguistic traces, and data obtained through cooperation with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The police did not disclose specific details of the attack, citing concerns about copycat crimes and future risks. However, they revealed that a North Korean term, heolhan il (헐한 일), meaning "unimportant matter," was found on a computer used during the attack.
According to the police, 57% of the stolen Ethereum was converted to Bitcoin through three cryptocurrency exchange platforms allegedly operated by North Korea. The conversion was done at a discount of 2.5% from market prices. The remaining Ethereum was distributed across 51 foreign exchanges for laundering.
In October 2020, authorities discovered that part of the stolen Bitcoin was held in a Swiss cryptocurrency exchange. Over the past four years, South Korea provided evidence to Swiss prosecutors to prove that the Bitcoin was linked to the Upbit theft. In October 2024, 4.8 Bitcoin, equivalent to around ₩600 million, was recovered and returned to Upbit.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
