North Korea hacks Crypto-currency exchange

Accordingt o reports from the BBC and reuters, hackers believed to be from North Korea are behind attacks on crypto currency exchanges in South Korea.
If this is true it means the North Korean state which in dire need of funds due to crippling sanctions may be looking for a backdoor to the crypto currency boom to sustain itself.

From the reports South Korea’s spy agency said North Korean hackers were behind attacks on cryptocurrency exchanges this year in which some 7.6 billion won ($6.99 million) worth of cryptocurrencies were stolen.
The thieves also stole the personal information of some 30,000 people.
They were trading the virtual currencies Bitcoin and Ethereum on the Bithumb crypto-currency exchange.
Based on recent trading volumes, Bithumb is South Korea's biggest and one of the five largest in the world.
Analysts say North Korean hackers may have targeted crypto-currencies in order to evade the financial sanctions imposed as punishment for the North's development of nuclear weapons.

Attacks also included the theft of cryptocurrencies from accounts at exchanges Yapizon, now called Youbit, and Coinis in April and September, according to the reuters report
This attack is said to date back to February when Bithumb’s cmployee’s PC was attacked, but it was only discovered in June.
The hackers also demanded a further $5.5m from Bithumb in exchange for deleting traders' personal information, said reports.
But a further attempt in October was thwarted,the report said.
At present, virtual currencies are not regulated by South Korea's financial authorities but they are now vowing to toughen up regulation.