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South Korea starts sanctions process against Upbit operator Dunamu
The Financial Supervisory Service has sent an inspection opinion letter to Dunamu over a reported $36 million hack in November 2025 and is reviewing potential violations of the Virtual Asset User Protection Act.
South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service has reportedly begun a sanctions procedure targeting Dunamu, the operator of crypto exchange Upbit, following a November 2025 cyberattack, according to Cointelegraph.
Cointelegraph reports the FSS sent an inspection opinion letter to Dunamu, marking the formal start of the process. The regulator will give the exchange an opportunity to respond to its findings before it issues any proposed sanctions.
The case centers on a $36 million exploit that lasted about 54 minutes, beginning at 4:42 a.m. KST on Nov. 27, 2025. Cointelegraph says Upbit faced criticism for delaying its disclosure of the hack until the end of the day after a merger-related event involving Naver Financial concluded.
Cointelegraph adds that the Virtual Asset User Protection Act does not currently include explicit sanctions provisions for hacking or computer system incidents, leaving the scope of penalties uncertain. The report says authorities plan to address the gap by adding sanctions and compensation provisions in a second phase of the Digital Asset Basic Act, while Upbit previously said it froze about 2.3 billion won, roughly $1.5 million, and planned to fully reimburse affected customers using its own balance sheet assets.