Hacking Ring Leader Gets 20 Years for BTS Jungkook Scheme
A South Korean court has sentenced to 20 years in prison one of the leaders of a hacking group that hunted the fortunes of wealthy Koreans and reached the assets of BTS’s Jungkook. The scheme tied to the criminals inflicted damage exceeding 38 billion won, around $27.2 million.
The Court’s Verdict
The Seoul Central District Court found the Chinese national guilty of fraud and of violating information-network legislation. The court established that the criminal group operated outside South Korea, including from Thailand, harvested victims’ personal data, and used stolen identities to access financial assets.
How the Scheme Worked
The perpetrators selected affluent individuals and then registered mobile lines in their names. The control thus gained allowed them to pass identity checks and reach banking, brokerage, and cryptocurrency accounts. Such schemes are especially dangerous for services where the SIM card and SMS remain a key element of identity verification.
The Jungkook Case
One of the most prominent targets was Jungkook of BTS. In January 2024, shortly after the musician left for his mandatory military service, the attackers opened a brokerage account in his name and attempted to withdraw HYBE shares worth roughly 8.4 billion won. It was previously reported that this involved about 33,000 shares. Some of the securities were transferred, but BigHit Music and financial institutions blocked the operations, and subsequent legal measures allowed the assets to be recovered.
A Roster of Wealthy Targets
Among the group’s other targets were executives of major South Korean companies, entrepreneurs, celebrities, and cryptocurrency holders. The investigation concluded that the criminals did not send out mass lures to random people, but sought out wealthy victims in advance and gathered the information needed to seize their financial accounts.
A Threat to the Financial System
The court called the crime a threat to the foundations of the financial system. The judges specifically noted that the victims lost money without any action on their part, unlike many voice-phishing schemes in which the criminal must persuade a person to hand over a code or make a transfer themselves. The severity of the sentence was compounded by what the court assessed as the defendant’s lack of genuine remorse.
An International Manhunt
South Korean law-enforcement authorities searched for the group’s leaders together with Interpol. The convicted man was apprehended in Thailand and subsequently extradited to South Korea. The investigation into other members of the international network continues.
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