North Korean authorities arrested an elite hacking ring on July 12 that is accused of infiltrating the internal networks of the country’s central bank and foreign trade bank, stealing state trade funds and laundering the proceeds through cryptocurrency, according to South Korean media outlet Daily NK. The report said the group was led by a former member of a cyberwarfare unit under the Reconnaissance General Bureau and recruited top IT graduates from Kim Chaek University of Technology and Pyongyang University of Science and Technology.
According to the report, the stolen money was broken into smaller transfers and moved to overseas crypto wallets, then converted into cash through intermediaries before being exchanged into U.S. dollars and other funds in border areas. Investigators reportedly opened the case after officials in Pyongyang detected irregularities in foreign-currency payment approvals and overseas IP access logs. Authorities later raided a safe house, arrested suspects who were allegedly in the middle of laundering money, and seized equipment worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The case has reportedly sent shockwaves through Pyongyang’s elite and military circles. Daily NK said senior figures in the Reconnaissance General Bureau and the science and technology education sector fear being implicated. The report also noted that while North Korea has long been accused of using groups such as Lazarus Group to steal billions in crypto assets, this case unusually suggests that the country’s own financial system was also targeted from within.
North Korean authorities arrested an elite hacking ring on July 12 over allegations that it breached the internal networks of the country’s central bank and foreign trade bank, stole state trade funds, and laundered the proceeds through cryptocurrency, according to South Korean outlet Daily NK.
Daily NK said the group was led by a former member of a cyberwarfare unit under North Korea’s Reconnaissance General Bureau. The report said he recruited gifted IT graduates from Kim Chaek University of Technology and Pyongyang University of Science and Technology and used encrypted communications and wireless devices in the operation.
According to the report, the stolen funds were split into smaller amounts and transferred to overseas crypto wallets. They were then exchanged for cash through intermediaries and converted in border regions into U.S. dollars and other funds.
Officials in Pyongyang began investigating after detecting irregularities in foreign-currency payment approvals and records of overseas IP access, the report said. Authorities later raided a safe house, arrested suspects who were allegedly laundering the money at the time, and seized equipment worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The case has reportedly unsettled elite and military circles in Pyongyang. Daily NK said senior officials in the Reconnaissance General Bureau and in science and technology education are concerned they could be drawn into the fallout. The report added that North Korea has long faced accusations of stealing billions of dollars in crypto assets through hacking groups such as Lazarus Group, but this case is unusual because it indicates that the country’s own financial system also became a target of an internal attack.
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