Justice ministry officers escort a Chinese language nationwide, suspected of being the ringleader of a gaggle that stole giant sums by impersonating rich people, via Incheon Worldwide Airport, Aug. 22, 2025. Courtesy of Ministry of Justice
A Seoul courtroom on Thursday sentenced a Chinese language nationwide to twenty years in jail for main a hacking scheme concentrating on Okay-pop group BTS member Jung Kook and Korean enterprise executives.
The Seoul Central District Court docket handed down the sentence to the Chinese language nationwide, surnamed Chun, on expenses of fraud and violating the knowledge community act, in reference to the theft of greater than 38 billion gained ($27.2 million) from the victims.
“(Chun) focused rich people and stole their property,” the courtroom mentioned. “The victims misplaced their property regardless of bearing no fault, not like in voice phishing scams.”
The courtroom added that Chun has not proven real regret for his wrongdoing.
Chun was charged with gathering private data as a part of a felony ring working abroad, together with in Thailand, from August 2023 to January 2025, activating cellphones within the victims’ names and transferring property from their accounts.
The investigation confirmed the targets included Jung Kook and a enterprise tycoon of a significant conglomerate.
Sources, nevertheless, mentioned the hacking group tried to steal 8.4 billion gained price of Jung Kook’s shares in HYBE, the mum or dad firm of his company, BigHit Music, however the company took instant motion to forestall losses.
