South Korea and the United States are teaming up to tackle a growing cyber menace: North Korean hackers. On December 23, 2024, South Korean officials announced a joint research initiative with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to combat cryptocurrency heists. 

This collaboration comes at a crucial time, as the price of Bitcoin recently skyrocketed to $100,000 following the U.S. presidential election last month. With crypto values soaring, it's like leaving a giant cookie jar out for North Korean hackers to raid.

The Science Ministry of South Korea plans to support this research through the Institute of Information & Communications Technology Planning & Evaluation until 2026. Researchers from Korea University and the RAND research institute will be working together to develop technologies that can prevent and track hackers when they attempt to steal assets from cryptocurrency exchanges.

But why all the fuss about North Korean hackers? Well, according to Chainalysis, a blockchain analysis firm, hackers linked to North Korea are estimated to have stolen a whopping $1.34 billion worth of cryptocurrency across 47 incidents in 2024 alone.

That's a billion with a ''B'—enough to buy a small country or, in North Korea's case, fund a lot of nuclear research.

This isn't the first time South Korea and the U.S. have joined forces against cyber threats. Back in April 2023, they adopted the Strategic Cybersecurity Cooperation Framework, pledging to "expand cooperation on deterring cyber adversaries, increase the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure, combat cybercrime, and secure cryptocurrency and blockchain applications."

The collaboration goes beyond just cryptocurrency theft. On July 25, 2024, the United States, United Kingdom, and South Korea issued a joint advisory warning about a global cyberespionage campaign by North Korean hackers.

These hackers, known as Anadriel or APT45, have been targeting defense and engineering firms, trying to steal classified military secrets. They're after everything from tank designs to submarine blueprints—basically, a hacker's version of a military shopping spree.

Paul Chichester from the UK's National Cyber Security Centre stated, "The global cyber espionage operation that we have exposed today shows the lengths that DPRK state-sponsored actors are willing to go to pursue their military and nuclear programs."

The FBI has even issued an arrest warrant for one of the alleged North Korean hackers, offering a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to his arrest.

But it's not just about defense secrets. These hackers are also going after cold, hard cash—or rather, hot, crypto. In August 2022, the FBI attributed three major cryptocurrency platform hacks to North Korean-sponsored threat actors. These included the $100 million hack of Harmony's Horizon bridge and the $600 million hack of Sky Mavis' Ronin Bridge.

The situation has become so serious that in November 2022, South Korea's presidential office held an emergency meeting to discuss the government's response to cyber threats from Russia. While this meeting wasn't directly about North Korean hackers, it shows how cybersecurity has become a top priority for South Korea.

To combat these threats, South Korea has been beefing up its cyber defenses. In its National Security Strategy released in June 2024, South Korea outlined plans to enhance its cyber capabilities, including establishing clear responsibilities and frameworks within its government.

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