Chainalysis to bolster South Korea's fight against North Korean hackers

Traders Union
All News
Crypto News
Chainalysis to bolster South Korea's fight

The main problem

Chainalysis noted that one of the reasons for signing the agreement was the need to more effectively counter crypto attacks linked to North Korea. South Korean police are “at the forefront” of the fight against these threats.

In April, the volume of stolen crypto assets linked to North Korea exceeded $578 million. A significant part of that amount came from attacks against Kelp DAO and Drift Protocol. According to CrowdStrike, hackers linked to North Korea were responsible for $2 billion in crypto losses in 2025, up 51% from a year earlier.

Under the agreement, the KNPA will gain access to personalized training materials from Chainalysis, professional certification programs, and practical training sessions.

The company has been helping South Korean investigators for several years. In September, Seoul police dismantled an international hacking group that had stolen around $30 million. The investigation began in South Korea, but investigators later tracked the suspects to Thailand.

The memorandum was signed several weeks after South Korean police launched a special multi-agency task force to fight money laundering through cryptocurrencies. It is called the Money Laundering Eradication Task Force and operates under the Economic Crime Investigation Division.

How North Korean hackers operate

North Korean hackers usually attack not the blockchain itself, but the people and companies around it. They create fake job offers, pose as recruiters, investors, or developers, send malicious files disguised as test assignments, and try to gain access to wallets, private keys, and the internal systems of exchanges and DeFi projects. In some cases, attackers join crypto companies as remote IT specialists, use fake documents, and work through intermediaries to gain access to infrastructure from the inside.

AI tools are also starting to play a separate role. According to researchers, groups linked to North Korea use AI-generated photos, fake profiles, and deepfakes to pass interviews or communicate with victims. AI helps them create convincing resumes, emails, websites, and attack personas faster. After a hack, the funds are usually moved through a chain of wallets, bridges, mixers, and exchanges to make it harder to trace the origin of the stolen cryptocurrency.

As a reminder, Chainalysis has introduced new tools for code investigation.

This material may contain third-party opinions, none of the data and information on this webpage constitutes investment advice according to our Disclaimer. While we adhere to strict Editorial Integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners.