According to the Ministry of Justice and the Korean National Police Agency, the suspect believed to be the leader of the international hacker organization, called A, was extradited from Thailand to South Korea on the morning of May 13.
The cybercrime investigation unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Department plans to interrogate the suspect and analyze the seized evidence before requesting an arrest warrant.
Police said: "Because this case has serious social impact, we will conduct a thorough and strict investigation.
Investigators said the suspect is a Chinese citizen over 40 years old, running an international hacker network based in Bangkok (Thailand).
From August 2023 to April 2024, this group was accused of illegally accessing many websites of government agencies, public organizations and private businesses to steal personal information of victims.
After that, they illegally opened cheap phone subscriptions under the guise of victims, then infiltrated financial accounts and virtual asset exchanges (crypted money) to appropriate assets.
Authorities estimate the total estimated damage of the property theft is about 38 billion won (about 670 billion VND). Victims are believed to include celebrities, the wealthy, lawyers and leaders of large corporations.
Male singer Jungkook (BTS) is one of the targets, with about 8.4 billion won (nearly 150 billion VND) of HYBE Group shares.
Fortunately, financial institutions quickly detected suspicious activities and froze transactions before actual damage occurred.
Previously, Seoul police arrested 18 suspects related to this organization, including another ringleader identified as B, who was extradited in August last year. B was prosecuted and detained in September 2025, and is currently awaiting trial.
South Korean officials have requested Thailand to apply an emergency temporary detention measure from May last year before officially proposing extradition in August.
