On Feb. 26, the National Tax Service emphasized that it has asked the Korean National Police Agency to investigate and is making every effort to recover the leaked virtual assets related to the incident of a delinquent taxpayer's virtual asset information leak.
The National Tax Service stated accordingly through a press reference titled "We deeply apologize to the public for the virtual asset leak incident" on the 1st.
The National Tax Service said, "This incident occurred because, in an effort to deliver more vivid information to the public, we failed to recognize that sensitive virtual asset information was included and carelessly provided the original photo to the media," adding, "It is undeniably the fault of the National Tax Service."
It continued, "As soon as we confirmed that coins had been leaked from the delinquent taxpayer's wallet, the National Tax Service tracked the leak path through our own virtual asset tracing program and asked the Korean National Police Agency to investigate, and we are making every effort to recover the leaked virtual assets."
The National Tax Service also added, "Using this incident as an opportunity, we will conduct an external diagnosis of the overall security system, strengthen internal controls such as prior review to prevent sensitive information from being leaked when disclosing externally, completely overhaul the manuals for all processes of seizing, storing, and selling virtual assets, and strengthen job and security training for staff, thereby preparing thorough measures to prevent recurrence and promptly implementing them."
On the same day, Koo Yun-cheol, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, also said on social media X (formerly Twitter) that, regarding the recent National Tax Service digital asset information leak incident, the government, together with relevant agencies such as the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), will inspect the status and management practices of digital assets held and managed by the government and public institutions through seizures and other law enforcement measures from delinquent taxpayers, and will promptly prepare and implement measures to prevent recurrence, including strengthening digital asset security management.
He added, "For reference, the government does not hold digital assets other than those acquired in the course of law enforcement such as seizures."
Meanwhile, the Cyber Terror Response Division of the Korean National Police Agency reportedly received an online report the day before from a person claiming to have stolen coins seized by the National Tax Service and is verifying the facts.
Earlier, on the 26th of last month, in the process of announcing the seizure of a "cold wallet" (offline electronic wallet) containing a delinquent taxpayer's virtual assets, the National Tax Service accidentally exposed mnemonic codes. Afterward, suspicions were raised that approximately 6.9 billion won worth of virtual assets had been stolen from the wallet. The police received the National Tax Service's request for investigation on the 27th of last month and have been conducting a pre-charge inquiry.
The National Tax Service explained that the leaked coins are traded only on a single exchange (MEXC), and because the trading volume is extremely small, the structure causes the price to plummet in the event of large-scale sales, so the actual damage is minimal. It also said that the moment the leaked coins are deposited into an exchange, the account is frozen, and trading is blocked by registering them on the virtual asset company's blacklist.