 |
| North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un shakes hands with Russia's President Vladimir Putin during a meeting in Vladivostok, Russia's far eastern city, Sept. 13. AP-Yonhap |
By Lee Yeon-woo
North Korea-linked hacking groups are increasingly using Russian-based exchanges to launder crypto assets, according to cryptocurrency analytics platform Chainalysis.
Recent data from Chainalysis indicates that roughly $21.9 million in cryptocurrency, stolen from the U.S.-based blockchain firm Harmony Protocol in 2022, was recently transferred to a Russia-based exchange with a reputation for facilitating unlawful transactions.
"This latest action marks a significant escalation in the partnership between the cyber underworlds of these two nations," the report said. "Russia's notoriously uncooperative stance toward international efforts by law enforcement makes the prospect of recovering stolen funds sent to Russian exchanges particularly grim."
The platform reported that North Korean hackers have been using Russian exchanges for money laundering purposes since 2021.
These findings are particularly alarming in the wake of the historic meeting between Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin last week. There are mounting concerns that the two sides might not only engage in arms deals but deepen their collaboration through illegal online activities.
In June, there were other indications that North Korean hacking groups were using Russian exchanges. Elliptic, another cryptocurrency analysis platform, pointed out that these groups were utilizing the Russia-based Garantex exchange to launder assets stolen from Atomic Wallet, a decentralized cryptocurrency wallet system.
"DPRK continues to be an incubator for hacking activities and remains one of the largest active threats in the cybercrime landscape," said Chainalysis. DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The platform highlighted that as of mid-September, the value of stolen cryptocurrency linked to North Korean hacking groups stands at over $340.4 million, accounting for 29.7 percent of stolen cryptocurrency.
Analysts estimate that North Korean hackers, primarily represented by the Lazarus Group, play an essential role in financing the country's arms development by illegally acquiring crypto assets.
![[INTERVIEW] INFINITE's Nam Woo-hyun returns after battling with rare cancer](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/a3c3440b8dc84bce8ca94394a170fef2.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[PHOTOS] It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas](http://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/newsV2/images/santa_0001_9a339f16fb3ac.JPG/dims/resize/268/optimize)
