Hyundai Group and Hyundai Motor Group offices in Seoul received threatening emails on Friday demanding 13 cryptocurrency tokens to prevent explosions.
The threats came as South Korea faces an unprecedented wave of digital extortion targeting its largest corporations.
Police found no explosives after deploying special forces to both locations.
What Happened
An email sent to Hyundai Group headquarters in Jongno-gu threatened to detonate a bomb at 11:30 a.m. unless the company transferred 13 Bitcoin BTC.
The message valued at over $1.1 million at current prices also warned of moving the device to Hyundai Motor Group offices in Yangjaedong if the demand went unmet.
Police received emergency calls around 11:42 a.m. and immediately dispatched explosive ordnance units to both Seoul locations.
Authorities conducted thorough searches but found no suspicious devices.
The buildings were temporarily evacuated as a precaution.
Hyundai Group forwarded the threatening email to management and employees across its subsidiaries before alerting law enforcement.
Police classified the threat as a hoax but continued investigating to identify the perpetrator.
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Why It Matters
This marks the latest cryptocurrency-linked extortion attempt in a series targeting South Korea's technology and industrial giants since December 15.
Samsung Electronics, Kakao, Naver, and KT all received similar bomb threats through customer service platforms and online forms over the past week.
The threats have forced multiple companies to shift employees to remote work and divert security resources.
Kakao evacuated 110 employees from its Jeju headquarters on December 18 after receiving a comparable threat.
Investigators suspect the same individual or group is behind multiple incidents, though some posts appeared under stolen identities from students who reported identity theft.
The use of cryptocurrency in ransom demands reflects a broader trend of digital extortion exploiting South Korea's highly connected business infrastructure.
Authorities have intensified digital monitoring and cross-agency coordination to prevent disruptions at technology hubs.
The pattern mirrors global concerns about cyber-physical security convergence as digital access points become vectors for physical threats.
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