The South Korea has started an official probe into the staggering $30.2M hack on the popular crypto exchange Upbit. In this respect, the South Korean authorities have intensified scrutiny over the $30.2M Upbit exploit. As per the local reports, the development comes amid the growing allegations of delay in the investigation. Particularly, the incident occurred on the 27th of November, and the exploiters stole the respective amount within one hour.

South Korea Initiates Probe into Upbit’s $30.2M Hack as ‘Delay’ Claims Grow

The exclusive South Korean probe into Upbit’s notable $30.2M exploit takes place amid delay allegations. Specifically, the public has criticized the crypto exchange, the political inquiry, as well as law enforcement in the country. However, the launch of this investigation aims to examine the cause of the exploit and the reason behind reporting it to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) 6 hours later.

The local media discloses that the investigators are investigating the reporting delay amid the finalization of a key merger deal between Upbit’s operator, Dunamu, and a South Korean tech player, Naver. The Upbit officials reportedly noticed the exploit at 5:00 am and suspended Solana-related withdrawals and deposits 27 minutes after that. After that, they halted all cryptocurrency transfers by 8:55 am. However, irrespective of these swift actions, the crypto exchange notified the regulatory authorities at 10:58 am.

Looking at this timeline, the community has speculated that the respective delay was allegedly aimed at overshadowing the big corporate announcement by Dunamu. The Financial Supervisory Service confirmed the details in its report that it filed with the policymaker Kang Min-guk of the domestic policy committee of the National Assembly. As per the agency, exploiters effectively transacted more than 104B KRW in cryptocurrency linked to Solana within 54 minutes.

Cyber Terror Unit Comes into Investigation Amid Speculation of North Korean Connection

In line with the local reports, the Cyber Terrorism Investigation Unit of the National Police Agency has initiated an on-site inquiry of the headquarters of Dunamu, as included in the formal probe. According to the officials, this development is still in early phases without the identification of suspects at the moment. Nevertheless, some agencies have pointed toward potential North Korean involvement, referring to history of analogous high-profile hacks.