South Korea finance minister pledges review of seized crypto custody after recovery phrase leak
South Korea's finance minister will urgently review seized crypto custody following a National Tax Service recovery phrase leak and subsequent unauthorized token transfer.Summary
South Korea's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy, Koo Yun-cheol, announced an urgent review of how government and public institutions manage seized digital assets following a security lapse by the National Tax Service (NTS). This pledge comes after an NTS press release on February 26 inadvertently exposed the recovery phrase for a seized crypto wallet, leading to the unauthorized transfer of approximately 4 million PRTG tokens. Koo stated that authorities, including the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, will inspect current custody statuses and establish measures to strengthen digital asset security to prevent recurrence. This incident adds to a series of custody failures involving confiscated crypto by Korean authorities, including missing Bitcoin reported by police and prosecutors earlier this year, which had already prompted nationwide audits.
(Source：The Block)