Daijiworld Media Network - Seoul

Seoul, Nov 27: South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit, suffered a major security breach early Thursday, its operator Dunamu Inc. confirmed. According to CEO Oh Kyung-seok, Solana-linked assets worth roughly 54 billion won (US$36.9 million) were transferred to an unauthorized wallet at 4:42 a.m., in what is now the platform’s most significant hack in six years.

Oh assured customers that the exchange will fully compensate the loss using its own reserves, ensuring that no user assets are affected. Upbit issued an official customer notice at 12:33 p.m. following a joint press event with Naver Corp. and Naver Financial Corp., held to announce their merger.

As part of its immediate response, Dunamu has temporarily halted all virtual asset deposits and withdrawals while it undertakes a full security audit. Financial regulators are reportedly preparing an on-site inspection to evaluate the breach and review Upbit’s protective measures.

The incident marks the largest attack on the exchange since November 27, 2019, when 340,000 Ethereum tokens—valued at 58 billion won—were siphoned off into an anonymous wallet.

Separately, South Korea’s economic outlook received a slight boost on Thursday as the Bank of Korea (BOK) revised its 2025 growth forecast to 1 percent, up from the earlier 0.9 percent. The central bank also increased its projections for 2026 to 1.8 percent and for 2027 to 1.9 percent, citing stronger private consumption and robust export performance.

BOK governor Rhee Chang-yong noted that a recent trade agreement with the United States and a surge in global semiconductor demand are expected to further lift exports and spur facility investment in the coming years.