South Korean police confirm that North Korea was behind the 2019 Upbit theft of 342,000 ETH.
(Translated by AI)
South Korean police have announced that North Korea is behind the theft of 342,000 ETH from the Upbit exchange in November 2019. This marks the first time South Korea has confirmed North Korea as an illicit actor in a cryptocurrency theft case. The police reached this conclusion by analyzing evidence including North Korean IP addresses, virtual asset flows, and the use of North Korean terminology, in collaboration with the FBI over a long-term partnership. The stolen ETH was valued at approximately 41.50 million USD at the time and has now exceeded 1 billion USD. About 57% of the stolen ETH was converted to Bitcoin, while the remainder was transferred to 51 overseas exchanges for laundering. South Korean police, in cooperation with Swiss authorities, have recovered 4.80 BTC. The FBI had previously confirmed North Korean hackers' involvement in several major cryptocurrency theft cases and warned that they are actively targeting employees in the Web3 industry.