- Two Hyundai Group buildings in Seoul were evacuated after a bomb threat demanding 13 Bitcoin.
- The ransom demand equaled approximately $1.1 million.
- Special forces searched the buildings but found no explosives.
- Previous bomb threats targeting other South Korean firms occurred earlier the same week.
- Similar Bitcoin ransom threats have been recorded internationally in recent years.
On Friday, two buildings owned by Hyundai Group in Seoul, South Korea, were evacuated following a bomb threat. An anonymous caller told the police that unless 13 Bitcoin—worth roughly $1.1 million—was paid, the buildings would be attacked. The caller specifically stated, “If you don’t give me 13 Bitcoin, I will blow up the Hyundai Group building at 11:30 a.m. and then take a bomb to Yangjae-dong and detonate it”.
Authorities responded quickly, evacuating the buildings and conducting thorough searches with special forces. No explosives were found during the operation.
This incident is part of a recent string of bomb threats against major South Korean companies. Earlier in the week, Samsung Electronics and a Korean telecom company received similar threats. It is not clear if those prior threats also involved Bitcoin ransom demands.
The demand for Bitcoin as ransom in bomb threats has precedent. For example, in 2020, a bomb threat in Japan required payment of 40 Bitcoin to avoid attacks on churches and schools. In 2018, global bomb threats demanding Bitcoin drew attention from the U.S. National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center.
Physical attacks connected to cryptocurrency have also increased during Bitcoin’s rise. Over 65 wrench attacks, where assailants coerce victims to surrender crypto assets physically, have been documented in a public database maintained by Casa CTO Jameson Lopp. Notable incidents include a Russian attack involving airsoft grenades on a crypto exchange in November, and a robbery in San Francisco where $11 million in crypto was stolen after the homeowner was restrained.
In Austria, police recently arrested two suspects accused of severely injuring a man and setting him on fire, a crime potentially motivated by cryptocurrency theft linked to the victim’s wallet withdrawals.
More information about these ongoing trends can be found in the documentation referenced here.
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