Chainalysis Deepens Partnership With South Korea’s National Police to Target Crypto Crime

TL;DR:

• Chainalysis signed a memorandum of understanding with South Korea’s National Police Agency to combat crypto crime.
• The agreement includes access to certification programs, localized training content and joint investigative capacity development.
• Hackers linked to North Korea stole more than $2 billion in cryptocurrencies during 2025, 51% more than the previous year.

Chainalysis signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) to strengthen investigative capabilities in matters of digital asset crimes. The agreement establishes a structured cooperation framework encompassing training, professional certification and development of practical investigation programs oriented toward real cases.

One of the central factors behind the signing is the threat posed by hacker groups linked to North Korea, although Ryan Kwon, Chainalysis regional director for South Korea, clarified that the scope of the agreement extends beyond that specific front. “While North Korea-driven attacks are understandably a national security focus, this alliance is not designed around a single threat. It is fundamentally about building institutional capacity,” Kwon stated.

Chainalysis Prepares to Combat the North Korean Threat

The numbers reflect the scale of the problem. According to CrowdStrike data, hackers affiliated with the North Korean regime were responsible for more than $2 billion in cryptocurrency losses during 2025, 51% more than the previous year. In April 2026 alone, state-linked thefts exceeded $578 million, through attacks targeting Kelp DAO and Drift Protocol. Over the past five years, the cumulative total amounts to $5.5 billion.

The stolen funds are laundered through exchanges, bridges and mixing services distributed across dozens of jurisdictions, turning these cases into global-scale investigations that demand international visibility over illicit fund flows.

From Zero to Experts

For this reason, the MoU grants designated KNPA personnel access to localized training content on the Chainalysis Academy platform, along with the opportunity to obtain certifications from the CDAP program, a global accreditation scheme ranging from basic to expert level. Both parties will also collaborate on the development of training programs based on real-world scenarios.

The signing of the agreement took place weeks after South Korean police launched the Money Laundering Eradication Task Force, a multiagency task force specialized in crypto asset laundering, led by the Economic Crime Investigation Division.