# TJWG Says North Korean Crypto Hacker Was Repatriated in a Body Cast

By Simon Yoon

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/technology/25324
Published: 2026-09-29T12:37:07.000Z
Updated: 2026-09-29T12:37:07.000Z
Section: Technology

> Pae Yong-ju was detained in China after trying to reach South Korea and returned to Pyongyang in August 2023, the group said.

A North Korean crypto hacker who tried to defect to South Korea was detained in China and later returned to Pyongyang in a wheelchair with his body placed in casts, the Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG) said Sept. 29.

The man, identified as Pae Yong-ju, was arrested in Inner Mongolia while attempting to reach South Korea through Mongolia. Chinese authorities questioned him for about six months before transferring him to North Korean officials through North Korea’s consulate in Shenyang.

Pae was then held for roughly a year at the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, where the group alleges he was interrogated in an underground facility. He was repatriated in August 2023, when air service between Beijing and Pyongyang resumed after a suspension of more than three years.

A merchant who traded with North Korea described Pae’s joints being bound and immobilized in plaster before he was placed in a wheelchair for the flight. TJWG said the treatment was intended to make the transfer appear to be a medical escort and prevent resistance or escape.

Pae was born in Pyongyang in November 1988. TJWG said he had been assigned to China, where he allegedly stole cryptocurrency, targeted South Korean government agencies and collected information on Chinese military institutions. TJWG said he later died in North Korea, but did not provide a date or cause of death.