The Chinese mastermind of an international hacking organization targeting BTS member Jungkook and domestic tycoons was sentenced.
On August 20th, the Criminal Division 31 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Park Joon Seok) sentenced a Chinese national, identified as A, to 20 years in prison on charges including fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes and violation of the Information and Communications Network Act.
The court judged A as the ringleader based on evidence such as the use of similarly named WeChat accounts linked to him and matching phone numbers appearing in conversations. The existence of external hard drives containing targeted victims and chat logs with accomplices were also cited as evidence.
The court pointed out, “Victims were selected based on their wealth and had their assets stolen,” and added, “Unlike typical voice phishing cases, these victims lost their assets in a defenseless state without any fault of their own.”
Furthermore, the court described the crime as a serious offense that undermined not only individuals but the foundation of the financial system. They considered the fact that the damages amounted to hundreds of billions of won and that the victims have not fully recovered their losses in sentencing.
Although this case could have led to a maximum sentence of life imprisonment under sentencing guidelines, A was sentenced to 20 years after considering that he admitted the basic facts and did not gain all the proceeds from the crime. However, his claim that another person was the real mastermind directing him was unverified, and his lack of sincere remorse was also taken as an unfavorable factor.
A is accused of organizing a hacking crime syndicate overseas, including in Thailand, and from August 2023 to January last year, illegally collecting personal information of victims, opening prepaid phone accounts under their names without permission, and using this to access financial and virtual asset accounts to embezzle approximately ₩38.0 billion KRW (about $27.3 million USD).
The targets included Jungkook as well as wealthy figures such as chairmen of large corporations. Investigations revealed that 8 chairmen, CEOs, and presidents, 1 executive, 3 entertainers and influencers, and 3 virtual asset investors were targeted.
In particular, Jungkook had his identity stolen while serving in the military, resulting in the theft of about ₩8.40 billion KRW (about $6.03 million USD) worth of HYBE shares. However, as the agency took immediate measures such as suspending payments after recognizing the victimization, it reportedly did not lead to actual financial loss.
The police cooperated with INTERPOL to arrest A in Thailand last May. He was repatriated to South Korea through cooperation between the Ministry of Justice and the National Police Agency and was indicted in custody.