S. Korea's crypto exchange Upbit loses 54 billion won in hacking attack: CEO

Seoul, Nov 27 South Korea's largest crypto exchange Upbit suffered a massive hacking attack on Thursday, its operator Dunamu Inc. said.

"A portion of Solana-affiliated assets worth approximately 54 billion won (US$36.9 million) was confirmed to have been transferred to an unauthorized wallet address at 4:42 a.m.," said Oh Kyung-seok, the chief executive officer of Dunamu, reports Yonhap news agency.

"We plan to cover the full amount lost with assets from Upbit, to ensure no damage occurs to customers' assets," he added.

A notification was issued to customers at 12:33 p.m. following a joint press conference held with portal operator Naver Corp. and its fintech arm, Naver Financial Corp., on their merger.

As a follow-up measure, Dunamu said it has temporarily suspended virtual asset deposit and withdrawal services on its exchange and is conducting a comprehensive security review.

Financial authorities are also said to be preparing an on-site inspection to assess the situation.

The incident is the largest security breach at Upbit in six years, after some 340,000 Ethereum tokens worth 58 billion won were illicitly transferred to an anonymous account on Nov. 27, 2019.

Meanwhile, the central bank on Thursday raised its 2025 economic growth forecast for South Korea to 1 percent, citing a recovery in private consumption and solid exports.

The revision by the Bank of Korea (BOK) marks a 0.1 percentage-point increase from its previous forecast of 0.9 per cent issued in August.

For 2026, the central bank lifted its growth outlook to 1.8 pe rcent from the earlier projection of 1.6 percent. It also expected the economy to expand 1.9 per cent in 2027.

"The recent trade agreement with the United States and the strong upturn in the global semiconductor market are expected to boost exports and facility investment more than previously projected," BOK Gov. Rhee Chang-yong told a press briefing.

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