Several officers of the South Korean army allegedly used secret military passwords as collateral to secure loans for purchasing cryptocurrency. This was reported by local media, citing the Ministry of Defense.
According to the ministry, active officers from a military unit in Chuncheon were unable to obtain funds from commercial banks, prompting them to turn to private individuals, to whom they disclosed military secrets. The funds acquired were used for investing in and trading cryptocurrency.
The passwords they provided were “third-level secret data” and granted access to barracks and other military facilities.
Counterintelligence believes that the private lenders had no connections with suspected espionage groups and did not attempt to use these passwords to access any base facilities.
Investigative authorities plan to charge the group of officers with violating the Military Secrets Protection Act.
It is known that most of the suspects are between 20 and 30 years old. No further details about the case have been disclosed. An investigation is ongoing.
In June 2024, an unnamed captain received a suspended sentence of two and a half years, with a four-year probation, for a similar crime. He was dismissed from the army.
Back in November 2022, a U.S. couple received prison sentences for selling secret data related to the design of nuclear-powered warships in exchange for cryptocurrency.