A South Korean crypto exchange employee was sentenced to four years in prison for attempting to recruit a military officer to sell classified secrets to North Korea in exchange for Bitcoin, the Supreme Court ruled on December 28.
The ruling also imposes a four-year ban on the employee from financial sector activities.
Court documents revealed that North Korean hackers paid the exchange staffer $487,000 in Bitcoin to recruit a 30-year-old army captain, who received $33,500 in Bitcoin in return, according to the South Korean media outlet Dailian.
The staffer approached the officer through a Telegram chat, offering cryptocurrency for access to sensitive military data.
The staffer sent a watch-shaped hidden camera and a USB “hacking device” to the captain under hacker instructions. These devices were intended to capture and transmit information from the Korean Joint Command and Control System, a platform used to share intelligence between the U.S. and South Korea.
Military police intercepted the devices before any breach occurred.
“The defendant must have been aware that he was attempting to uncover military secrets for a country hostile to South Korea,” the judge said. “This crime could have endangered the entire country and was committed for personal financial gain.”
The captain, surnamed Kim, was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined $35,000 for violating the Military Secrets Protection Act.
DLNews reporting helped with this article.
North Korea’s crypto exploits
The U.S. Treasury Department on November 4, sanctioned eight individuals and two entities linked to North Korea’s cybercrime operations, targeting the flow of cryptocurrency stolen by DPRK hackers.
Over the past three years, North Korea-affiliated cybercriminals have stolen more than $3 billion, primarily in digital assets, using malware, ransomware, and social engineering to attack banks, exchanges, and other platforms.
The Treasury said the funds help finance Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and missile programs.
Among those sanctioned were bankers Jang Kuk Chol and Ho Jong Son, who managed over $5.3 million in cryptocurrency tied to ransomware attacks and DPRK IT workers abroad. Korea Mangyongdae Computer Technology Corp., which runs overseas IT delegations, and its president U Yong Su, were also targeted, alongside Ryujong Credit Bank in Pyongyang and five DPRK banking representatives in China and Russia for laundering millions in global currencies.
In September 2024, the FBI issued a warning that North Korean hackers were targeting U.S. cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in an attempt to steal digital assets.
According to the agency, the attackers are employing sophisticated social engineering techniques to infiltrate companies linked to these financial products.
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