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Top court upholds sentence in case of collusion with North Korean hacker to steal military information

Published: 28 Dec. 2025, 13:06

An image of a statue of Justitia, the goddess of justice [KOREA JOONGANG DAILY]

The Supreme Court has upheld a four-year prison sentence for a cryptocurrency exchange operator who tried to obtain classified military information from an active-duty officer on orders from a North Korean hacker, legal sources said on Sunday.

The operator, surnamed Lee, worked under the instructions of a hacker known as “Boris,” whom prosecutors described as a North Korean agent operating on Telegram. The court found Lee guilty of violating the National Security Act.

The Supreme Court also upheld a four-year suspension of rights such as voting, running for public office and holding certain professional licenses.

In July 2021, Boris instructed Lee to recruit an active-duty officer capable of accessing sensitive military information. Lee contacted a captain, surnamed Kim, via Telegram and offered cryptocurrency in exchange for confidential data.

Lee sent Kim a watch equipped with a hidden camera, which the captain brought onto a military base. Lee also provided a USB-type hacking device known as Poison Tap, allowing Boris to remotely access Kim’s laptop.

The officer attempted to leak military secrets through this setup, including login credentials for the Korean Joint Command and Control System, a key South Korean military network, but the attempt to hack the system failed.

Lee also tried to recruit another officer by offering money in exchange for a military organizational chart, but the officer rejected the proposal.

Lee reportedly received approximately 700 million won ($484,000) in Bitcoin, while Kim was paid around 48 million won in cryptocurrency.

A lower court determined that Boris was a North Korean agent and that Lee was at least aware of the likelihood.

“The defendant must have been at least aware that they were assisting a state or organization hostile to South Korea in gathering military intelligence,” the court said. “There is no reason to believe that North Korea was not among them.

“This crime risked national security for personal financial gain, and severe punishment is justified. However, the attempts using the equipment provided by the defendant did not result in the extraction of any classified military information."

Both the prosecution and Lee appealed, but the appellate court upheld the ruling and the Supreme Court dismissed the subsequent appeal.

In a separate case, the Supreme Court finalized a 10-year prison term and a 50 million won fine for Kim for violating the Military Secret Protection Act.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JUNG SI-NAE [[email protected]]