South Korea Orders Review After Tax Office Seed Phrase Leak

Deputy Prime Minister Koo Yun-cheol has ordered a cross-agency review of how the government and public institutions handle seized digital assets after the National Tax Service accidentally exposed a wallet seed phrase in a press release photo. The NTS published an image of a hardware wallet showing the full mnemonic recovery phrase, and unknown actors drained roughly 4 million Pre-Retogeum (PRTG) tokens worth about 6 billion won (around $4.8 million) from the confiscated wallet within hours.

In a post on X, Koo said the government, together with the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, will review the status and management of all digital assets seized from delinquent taxpayers and "promptly" strengthen security controls.

He also stressed the state does not hold crypto beyond assets acquired through law enforcement actions.

South Korea

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