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 The Financial Services Commission (FSC) chief said on Sunday the government needs to closely monitor unfair transactions in the cryptocurrency market. 

"The price of virtual assets has recently been shooting up in a very short period of time, and with heavy volatility of the market itself, the government needs to closely monitor possible unfair transactions," FSC Chairman Kim Byoung-hwan told public broadcaster KBS.

Last week, the combined value of transactions in the domestic virtual asset market surpassed that of the Korean stock market, reports Yonhap news agency.

Regarding the country's policy direction on cryptocurrency, Kim said the priority is on connecting the virtual asset market with the traditional financial system and protecting its investors.

Last week, South Korea confirmed that North Korean hackers were behind the theft of 58 billion won ($41.5 million) worth of cryptocurrency in 2019. 

The National Office of Investigation of the National Police Agency announced the finding, saying North Korea's state-sponsored hacking groups Lazarus and Andariel were involved in the theft of 342,000 Ethereum tokens from the cryptocurrency exchange Upbit in November 2019.

The tokens, valued at 58 billion won at the time, are now equivalent to 1.47 trillion won. This marks the first time a South Korean investigative agency has confirmed North Korea's involvement in cryptocurrency hacking crimes, though similar charges have been raised by the United Nations and other countries.

North Korea sold 57 per cent of the stolen Ethereum tokens at 2.5 per cent below market price in exchange for bitcoin tokens on three cryptocurrency exchange websites presumably established by the North, according to police. The remainder of the Ethereum was distributed to 51 overseas exchanges and laundered, they said.