The South Korean government plans to introduce a bill to trace and freeze cryptocurrency assets owned by the DPRK. It is reported by Korea JoongAng Daily, citing sources.
The document is aimed at preventing the financing of Pyongyang’s weapons programs and is the result of 10 months of consultations between various departments.
According to insiders, an early version of the bill was sent for revision at the direction of President Yoon Seok-yeol. The head of state proposed to include “practical measures to strengthen national security” in it.
One of the sources told the publication that, according to the president, the country’s cyber defense systems need “urgent repairs” because the previous administration did not counteract hackers from the DPRK.
The latest version of the bill contains measures to “track and neutralize virtual coins and other crypto-currency assets stolen by Pyongyang through hacks.”
Recall that the damage to the bitcoin industry from the actions of hackers associated with North Korea in The Wall Street Journal was estimated at $ 3 billion. Half of this amount went to finance the program to create ballistic missiles.
Since 2018, North Korean crime groups have stolen digital assets totaling $2 billion, according to TRM Labs.
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