Transactions between Cambodia’s Huione Guarantee and South Korean crypto exchanges surged 1,400-fold to ₩12.86 billion in 2024

According to figures submitted to the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), coin transactions between Cambodia’s Huione Guarantee, an affiliate of the Huione Group, and five major South Korean exchanges soared to 12.86 billion won (₩), worth approximately $8.98 million, in 2024. 

According to the figures cited by South Korean authorities, the transaction count increased by a staggering 1,400-fold from just ₩9.22 million a year earlier. 

Cambodian network under sanctions

Huione Group, a Cambodia-based financial services conglomerate, was cut off from the U.S. financial system by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) under section 311 of the USA Patriot Act after investigations showed that the group was involved in laundering money, part of which are illicit proceeds of North Korean cyber heists. 

The U.S. Treasury also alleged that Huione and its subsidiaries acted as financial intermediaries for “pig butchering” scams, cyber fraud, and other illicit schemes across Southeast Asia.

The United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) and the U.S. State Department have also imposed coordinated sanctions on entities associated with the group, freezing assets and prohibiting financial transactions.

Stablecoin transactions and exchange exposure

Of the ₩12.86 billion that moved between Huione Guarantee and South Korean exchanges last year, 99.9% was reportedly conducted in Tether (USDT).

Bithumb accounted for the lion’s share of transactions, with Huione-linked deposits and withdrawals moving from ₩9.22 million in 2023 to over ₩12.42 billion in 2024. Upbit first recorded its initial inflows and outflows in 2024, and it was worth ₩366.9 million. Coinone and Korbit saw smaller volumes of ₩1.2 million and ₩11.87 million, respectively. 

Although some exchanges have since severed ties, some transactions still continued into this year. Between January and October 2025, coin transfers across the five exchanges reached over ₩3.49 billion. 

While this figure is lower than 2024 levels, it still exceeds 2023 figures by a significant margin. Bithumb again led the field with ₩2.18 billion in volume, followed by Upbit with ₩523 million. Korbit saw ₩443 million, while Coinone saw the least volume with ₩280,000.

Upbit reportedly blocked transactions with Huione Guarantee in March, while Bithumb, Coinone, and Korbit followed suit in May. Bithumb also confirmed that it received a ₩680,000 deposit this year from Byex, another Cambodian exchange affiliated with Prince Group, a separate network also under international sanctions for money laundering. The company stated that it has suspended dealings with Byex.

Regulators under pressure to act

Representative Lee Yang-soo of the ruling People Power Party has called on South Korea’s financial authorities to take the surge in stablecoin inflows and outflows between domestic and Cambodian exchanges seriously and closely monitor it. 

He said, “Above all, they should accurately identify the true nature of illegal money laundering and remittances by Cambodian criminal organizations and devise countermeasures.”

According to reports, South Korean policymakers are set to impose sanctions on businesses linked to Cambodia-based criminal networks and their crypto facilitators. 

This is also coming after over 50 South Koreans were repatriated from Cambodia after their arrest on accusations that they worked for online scam organizations. The South Koreans were detained and investigated by Korean authorities, who wanted to find out if they joined the scam operations voluntarily or if they were forced. 

Another 86 people were arrested by Cambodian police for online scam-related offenses, and 57 out of them are South Koreans. This has prompted South Korean lawmakers to visit Cambodia to inspect reports of alleged employment scams, torture, and illegal confinement of South Koreans in the country.

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