Upbit hack tests patience of South Korean regulators

South Korea is preparing to impose bank-level obligations on crypto exchanges after the approximately $30 million breach at the country’s biggest platform, Upbit, exposed serious security lapses.

South Korea’s main financial watchdog the Financial Services Commission (FSC) said crypto exchanges may face no-fault liability, stricter IT risk standards, expanded audit criteria and fines tied to revenue.

The Upbit hack on November 27 is believed to have been carried out by North Korea’s Lazarus Group and is part of a broader rise in AI-enhanced cyber attacks targeting Korean business and financial institutions.

“Lazarus group has proven that they are very dynamic and they will change and adapt with the times when new technologies like cryptocurrency come out there already on top of it,” said Robert Sanchez, an expert in financial crime management.

Impersonation with the help of AI

The Upbit attack likely involved compromised administrator credentials, suggesting internal operational weaknesses rather than blockchain vulnerabilities.

He said modern attackers spend significant time “stalking” potential targets on sites like LinkedIn.

“They’ll identify the administrators and may even use AI to support their fraudulent activity,” said Sanchez. “They gradually gather information sometimes by impersonating employees and work to reverse-engineer access to reach the protected private keys of crypto accounts.”

Wake up call

Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Governor Chan-jin Lee said Upbit’s security shortcomings show why South Korea must move ahead with phase two revisions to the Virtual Asset User Protection Law, introduced in July 2024. He said the current law does not hold service providers fully responsible for security failures.

According to the FSS, Upbit waited six hours before alerting authorities to the breach. South Korean lawmakers have accused the exchange of slow-walking the disclosure to avoid overshadowing its high-profile merger with the internet titan Naver

“System security is the lifeline of virtual assets,” said Chan-jin Lee, adding that the new amendment will introduce a regulatory structure comparable to the Capital Markets Act.

Crypto exchanges face heightened scrutiny

It is not the first time Upbit has been targeted by the North Korean linked Lazarus Group. On November 26 2019 hackers stole approximately $49 million from hot wallets. Upbit clarified that losses did not come from user accounts.

This incident is part of a broader pattern. A total of 86 North Korea-related cyber hacking activities were recorded from October last year to September this year, according to AhnLab’s 2025 Cyber ​​Threat Trends & 2026 Outlook report published on November 27.

President Jae Myung Lee has called for increased penalties for corporate negligence in data breaches. Hoon-sik Kang, chief of staff, criticized Upbit for managing its IT security budget on an adhoc basis and for failing to have a dedicated budget for cybersecurity.

Upbit said it plans to fully reimburse customers’ stolen funds and has reportedly frozen $1.77 million in assets linked to the breach. It said it was committed to tracing the theft and recovery of stolen assets.

But tracing stolen funds is extremely difficult as the Lazarus Group is notorious for using sophisticated tools designed to keep authorities off their trail.

“Crypto mixers are designed to jumble transactions and sever the paper trail,” explained financial crime expert Robert Sanchez. “Lazarus is known for using them routinely, even though progress is being made to deanonymize the technology.”

Steeper operational burdens

South Korea is weighing a no-fault liability rule that would require exchanges to reimburse customers for losses even when platforms are not directly responsible for a breach. It is a measure traditionally applied to banks and financial institutions in Korea, not crypto exchanges.

It is a rule that would allow the government to fine crypto exchanges up to 3% of their annual revenue when a hack occurs. The penalties are intended to force the industry to take security more seriously.

But South Korea’s cryptocurrency industry is already struggling to find the commercial feasibility in digital assets.

“Many altcoins, aside from Bitcoin, still lack a clear purpose, and the businesses associated with them are not doing well,” said Louis Ko, CEO of Bitcoin startup Nonce Lab. “Some projects survive on investments, but this is not sustainable.”

Ko said Korea’s push to hold exchanges financially responsible for hacks could force smaller platforms out of the market.

“The crypto market in Korea is still very small. Except for a few large exchanges, most crypto businesses are struggling to create real value for customers.”

He said current crypto regulations mean any crypto-related business must meet the same strict requirements as a crypto exchange.

“The minimum security standard, the ISMS, costs about 100 million KRW (USD 75,000) each year to maintain. Most entrepreneurs in this sector need this level of capital to even begin operating.”

South Korea requires major online service providers to comply with a government-backed cybersecurity regime known as the Information Security Management System (ISMS).

Ko said the uncertainty compounded by Korea’s tightening regulatory regime, could push some crypto firms to look abroad or accelerate underground trading. He highlights a trend in which altcoin projects have issued tokens through illegal channels, leading to pyramid-style sales structures and major investor losses.

Legislative amendments are expected in the first half of 2026 as Korea bolsters security and AML rules through its expanded coordination with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Robert Sanchez said that education remains the real shield when it comes to keeping up with threats.

“Impersonation and spear-phishing remain among the most common tactics used by attackers, so training and education in these areas should be standard practice for any organization,” he said. “This requires robust and well-defined internal procedures to counter these threats.”

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