South Korea Imposes Sanctions on 15 North Korean Hackers, Entity Connected to Cryptocurrency Theft

South Korea has imposed sanctions on 15 North Korean hackers and one entity in a bid to curb the country’s rampant cryptocurrency theft activities.

The sanctions were announced by the South Korean government on December 29, citing the need to protect its financial system from the growing threat of cybercrime emanating from the rogue nation.

According to reports, the sanctioned individuals are believed to be connected to several high-profile cryptocurrency theft incidents in recent years. The entity sanctioned is a North Korean IT firm accused of facilitating these illegal activities.

The sanctions come on the heels of a report by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, which revealed that North Korean hackers had stolen an estimated $1.34 billion worth of cryptocurrencies across 47 separate incidents in 2023.

This staggering figure represents approximately 61% of global cryptocurrency thefts for last year, marking a sharp increase in both frequency and scale.

In response to the rising threat, South Korea has vowed to strengthen its cooperation with the international community to block North Korean illegal cyber activities with “high alertness.”

The government emphasized that these financial and foreign exchange transactions with the designated targets would require prior approval from the Financial Services Commission or the Bank of Korea.

Source: bitcoinist.com