North Korean authorities have arrested former military hackers accused of stealing state funds from two banks and laundering the proceeds through cryptocurrency.
According to a Daily NK report citing an anonymous source in Pyongyang, the group allegedly breached the internal systems of the DPRK Central Bank and the Foreign Trade Bank, diverted foreign currency and state trade funds, and transferred the money to offshore crypto wallets.
The report could not be independently verified.
Chinese brokers then converted the assets into US dollars and yuan, Daily NK said. Contacts in the border towns of Sinuiju and Hyesan allegedly exchanged cryptocurrency for cash in real time, with the group splitting transfers into small amounts to avoid detection and using encrypted messaging apps, unregistered phones and Chinese wireless equipment.
North Korea’s National Intelligence Agency arrested the suspects at a Pyongyang safe house on July 12 after officials detected discrepancies in foreign currency payment approvals and suspicious intellectual property activities abroad, according to the report.
The laundering route reflects the methods used by North Korean hacking groups to withdraw stolen cryptocurrencies.
