The South Korean government plans to introduce a bill to track and freeze North Korean cryptocurrencies and virtual assets used to finance Pyongyang's illegal weapons programs, multiple government sources said.
South Korea Wants to Track and Freeze North Korea's Crypto Assets
An earlier version of the bill was first announced by the National Intelligence Service (NIS) in November, according to government sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.
However, it was sent back for further revision on the orders of President Yoon Suk Yeol, who wanted it to include “practical measures to support national security.”
The revised bill was prepared after 10 months of consultations between different ministries of the South Korean government to add new sanctions to South Korea's existing sanctions against the North.
A senior government official, who requested anonymity, said in a statement that the new bill reflects the President's belief that “the cybersecurity framework must be urgently repaired” by the previous Moon Jae-in administration.
An administration insider with in-depth knowledge of the bill said the latest regulation includes measures to “track and neutralize virtual currencies and other cryptocurrency assets stolen by the North through hacking,” which were not included in the original bill proposed by the NIS last year.
South Korean intelligence reported that the North stole 1.7 trillion won ($1.28 billion) worth of Bitcoin and Ethereum through various hackers in 2022 alone.
*This is not investment advice.