TechFlow news, according to Yonhap News Agency, South Korean police confirmed for the first time on November 21, 2024, that the 2019 Upbit exchange hack involving the theft of 342,000 ETH (worth 58 billion KRW at the time, approximately 1.47 trillion KRW today) was carried out by North Korea's General Bureau of Reconnaissance-affiliated hacking groups "Lazarus" and "Andariel."
The conclusion was reached through analysis of North Korean IP addresses, fund flows, and evidence obtained in cooperation with the FBI. The investigation revealed that hackers exchanged 57% of the stolen ETH into Bitcoin at a 2.5% discount below market price, while the remaining assets were laundered through 51 overseas exchanges. After four years of tracking, authorities have successfully recovered 4.8 BTC (approximately 600 million KRW) from an exchange in Switzerland, which has already been returned to Upbit.
