Satire! North Korea caught its own hackers for infiltrating the central bank, then switched to cryptocurrency and laundered it through China

North Korean authorities have arrested a group of former state hackers and IT experts. They infiltrated the internal networks of North Korea’s central bank and foreign trade bank, converted treasury funds into cryptocurrencies, and then laundered the money through Chinese brokers.
(Background recap: In 2025, North Korean hackers stole a record $2.02 billion in cryptocurrency, and the laundering cycle was about 45 days)
(Background add-on: Cybersecurity explained｜U.S. Department of Justice “indicts Chinese citizens” in an OTC-assisted North Korean hacker money-laundering case: Which exchanges were hacked?)

North Korean authorities have recently arrested a group of former state cyber operators and IT experts, accusing them of hacking into the internal networks of North Korea’s Central Bank and the foreign trade bank. After converting treasury funds into cryptocurrencies, they allegedly laundered the proceeds through Chinese brokers. According to Daily NK, a Seoul-based outlet specializing in North Korean news, reported on July 23 and citing an anonymous source in Pyongyang, after the group stole state funds, it first converted South Korean won into cryptocurrency, and then completed the laundering process through brokers operating in China.

“Reverse money laundering” from their own banks

The two targeted banks were North Korea’s central bank (North Korea People’s Bank) and the foreign trade bank (North Korea Foreign Trade Bank), showing that after state funds were stolen, they went through a complete chain of “fiat currency → cryptocurrency → money laundering.”

This arrest marks the first case in which North Korean hackers have been accused of stealing from their own government financial institutions, making it a rare incident of “internal backlash.”

North Korea’s crypto industry supply chain

We know North Korean hacker organizations are notorious. According to recent data, in 2025 North Korea stole a record $2.02 billion worth of cryptocurrency, a year-on-year increase of as much as 51%.

These funds were used to support North Korea’s large-scale weapons of mass destruction programs, manipulate exchange rates, and evade international sanctions. North Korean hackers steal assets by infiltrating crypto exchanges, bridging chains, and DeFi protocols. The theft process typically includes: assuming identities, injecting liquidity, and rapid money laundering… ironically, this time the target ended up being their own banks.