Chinese national A sentenced to 20 years in first trial for hacking involving identity theft of BTS Jungkook and others, causing 39 billion won in damages

The Chinese hacking organization leader, accused of embezzling assets worth hundreds of billions of won by impersonating BTS member Jungkook and several wealthy individuals including a large corporation chairman, was sentenced to 20 years in prison in the first trial. The organization was investigated for forming a hacking crime group overseas, including in Thailand, from August 2023 to last year, hacking domestic sites and illegally obtaining personal information. They opened prepaid phones under the victims’ names to intercept authentication codes and accessed financial accounts, stock accounts, and virtual asset exchange accounts. It was also found that they attempted to hack public institutions and related agencies during this process. Among the victims was Jungkook, who was serving in the military at the time. He nearly lost HYBE stocks worth 8.4 billion won, but no actual financial damage occurred due to the suspension measures taken by his agency. Actual financial damage occurred to 16 individuals, with the total amount confirmed to be about 39 billion won. The victims included nine businesspeople such as large corporation chairmen and CEOs, three entertainers and influencers, and virtual asset investors, in addition to Jungkook. On the 20th, the Criminal Division 31 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Park Joon-seok) sentenced former Mr. Jeon, a Chinese national, to 20 years in prison on charges of fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes and violations of the Information and Communications Network Act. The court stated that Mr. Jeon targeted wealthy individuals in South Korea to steal their assets, and unlike typical voice phishing cases, the victims lost their assets defenselessly without any fault of their own. Furthermore, the court pointed out that this crime was a serious offense that shook the foundation of South Korea’s financial system, not just affecting individual victims. It was reported that the sentence was determined because the person Mr. Jeon claimed to be the actual mastermind was not identified, and there was a lack of sincere remorse for the crime. The police, in cooperation with Interpol, arrested Mr. Jeon in Thailand in May last year, and after being extradited to South Korea in August of the same year, he was detained and indicted in September.