The South Korean prosecution has indicted a gang for selling nearly $1.2 billion worth of cryptocurrency by exploiting the "kimchi premium."

ChainCatcher news, the International Crime Investigation Division of the Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seoul, South Korea, has arrested and prosecuted a gang of four suspected of violating the Foreign Exchange Transaction Act and the Specific Financial Information Act. This gang had been using remittances to buy cryptocurrencies on overseas exchanges from September last year to March this year, then transferring them to other overseas and domestic exchange accounts for sale, totaling 15 trillion won (approximately 1.178 billion USD) in cryptocurrency sold. Prosecutors believe they systematically committed crimes with the aim of profiting from the so-called "kimchi premium."

It is reported that the South Korean cryptocurrency market had previously shown signs of overheating, with cryptocurrencies in the Korean market priced higher than in other countries, a phenomenon known as the "kimchi premium."