According to Hankookilbo, a Chinese citizen (called A) accused of being the leader of a large-scale cybercrime ring, aimed at appropriating the assets of wealthy Koreans, including corporation CEOs and celebrities, was arrested in Thailand and extradited to Seoul (Korea).
According to the Korean Ministry of Justice, A established an overseas Hacking organization and collected illegal personal information by breaking into the websites of Korean mobile network operators, from August 2023 to January 2024.
The group of hackers used the collected information, registered their mobile phones in the names of others, then accessed the financial accounts and virtual assets of the victims to appropriate property.
The total amount of damage is up to more than 38 billion won (more than 720 billion VND). The victims are said to include celebrities like BTS' Jungkook, and other wealthy individuals such as the group's chairman and CEO of the joint venture company.
In Jungkook's case, right after he enlisted in the army in January last year, the hackers stole 33,500 HYBE shares from the singer's stock account, worth about 8.4 billion won (about 160 billion VND). The hackers sold 500 of those stocks, worth about 126 million won, to a third party.
However, BTS' management company Big Hit Music quickly froze the account, preventing further losses. Jungkook's legal team also filed a lawsuit to reclaim shares.
The Seoul Western District Court later ruled in favor of the singer, stating that no legal transfers took place and requiring the buyer to return the shares.
Seoul Capital Police investigators, in coordination with Interpol, tracked A's journey and discovered him entering Thailand in April.
The South Korean government later requested a temporary detention of A in Thailand for extradition, a legal mechanism allowing an emergency arrest of the suspect before an official extradition request is made.
Thai authorities detained A for two weeks, then handed him over to South Korea.
