Hyundai Group evacuated employees from multiple Seoul offices on December 20, 2025, after an email threatened explosions unless a Bitcoin ransom was paid, authorities and media reported. The extortion message demanded 13 BTC — roughly $1.1 million at the time — and set an 11:30 AM deadline, triggering immediate safety measures at two named sites: the Hyundai Group building in Yeonji‑dong, Jongno‑gu, and the Hyundai Motor Group tower in Yangjae‑dong, Seocho‑gu. Staff were escorted from buildings, operations were shifted to remote work, and police deployed special units and bomb squads to conduct methodical searches of rooms and public spaces. No explosives or suspicious devices were found. Local roads around the sites were closed and access tightly controlled while investigators combed for evidence. Authorities said there has been no trace of any transfer of the demanded 13 BTC and that Hyundai did not pay the ransom. Police described the message as likely intended to sow alarm rather than reflecting a verifiable plan, and they are collecting digital evidence from the threatening email while coordinating with cyber units to trace its origin. As part of the inquiry, investigators reviewed surveillance footage and building logs and carried out the standard physical-security sweep, with witnesses describing a tense but orderly evacuation. The case comes amid a series of similar threats against major South Korean firms in recent days — reports named Samsung Electronics, KT, Kakao, and Naver — which authorities suspect may include copycat attempts or coordinated extortion campaigns relying on fear rather than real devices. For the crypto community, the incident underscores familiar tensions: attackers favor cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin for their cross‑border reach and rapid settlement, but on‑chain transactions are publicly visible and can sometimes be traced or linked to suspects when law enforcement, exchanges, and forensic teams cooperate. South Korean financial and cybercrime units have flagged an uptick in crypto‑denominated ransom demands in recent months, and investigators increasingly combine physical security measures with blockchain analysis to follow any money trail when extortionists attempt to cash out. Hyundai issued a brief statement confirming the evacuations and thanking emergency services for their swift response, while declining to comment on investigative details. Authorities continue to treat each threat seriously as they try to separate credible leads from hoaxes. Image: Unsplash. Chart: TradingView. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

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