North Korean State-Trained Hackers Arrested for Hacking Their Own Banks

North Korean authorities have arrested a group of hackers accused of hacking two state banks and laundering stolen funds through digital assets.

The group, composed of former state cyber operators and IT specialists, allegedly hacked the internal networks of North Korea's central bank and the Foreign Trade Bank, converting stolen state funds into cryptocurrency before laundering them through China-based brokers.

The hackers used specialized Chinese wireless equipment and encrypted messengers to avoid being monitored by North Korean authorities. They broke up foreign currency assets in national trade funds and ghost accounts, siphoned them into overseas digital asset wallets, and switched them back to easier-to-cash-out digital currencies through Chinese brokers.

This incident marks a monumental irony, as the North Korean state has been notorious for its state-backed hacking operations, particularly those targeting or utilizing the digital asset space. In 2025, the country posed 'the most significant nation-state threat to cryptocurrency security,' according to blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis, with hackers stealing at least $2.02 billion in cryptocurrency.