South Korean police confirm that North Korea planned the Upbit cryptocurrency theft case.

South Korean police have confirmed that North Korea orchestrated a $50 million cryptocurrency theft from Upbit. Cooperation with the FBI and Swiss prosecutors helped to establish North Korea's role in the 2019 Upbit incident. South Korean investigators revealed that the 2019 Upbit cryptocurrency theft was carried out by the hacker groups Lazarus and Andariel, which are linked to North Korea's Reconnaissance General Bureau. Upbit is one of South Korea's leading cryptocurrency exchanges, which first reported the attack five years ago. In the incident, 342,000 $ETH were stolen, valued at approximately $147 each at the time. The investigation involved collaboration with the FBI, which identified North Korean IP addresses, virtual asset flow patterns, and lexical traces as key evidence. With the assistance of Swiss prosecutors, South Korean police recovered 4.8 Bitcoin from a Swiss exchange and returned it to Upbit in October. Despite United Nations reports and statements from foreign governments, this is the first time domestic investigative agencies have formally confirmed the matter. Since the 2019 incident, Upbit has implemented several measures to prevent similar occurrences. Nevertheless, Upbit faced over 159,000 hacking attempts in the first half of 2023.