Seoul’s special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs has called for measures to eradicate North Korea’s illegal cyber activities, referring to cryptocurrency as the root of the North’s threat.

At the second working group meeting between South Korea and the U.S. on North Korean cyber threats on Thursday, Kim gave a speech on the North’s acquisition of funds for its provocations through malicious cyber activities.

Kim made particular mention of a hacking case in which North Korea stole 620 million U.S. dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency from a game called Axie Infinity back in March.

He estimated that North Korea spent between 400 million to 650 million dollars launching 31 ballistic missiles in the first half of this year alone, the funds for which were likely covered by the single hacking operation.

Kim urged more countries to pay attention to the North’s cyber threats, particularly Southeast Asian nations where the cryptocurrency market is rapidly increasing.

Meanwhile, Director-General for North Korean Nuclear Affairs Lee Tae-woo cautioned against perceiving North Korea’s illegal cyber activities as financial crimes in cyberspace, noting that responding to the threats is related to the peace and safety of the international community.