Mastermind Behind Theft Of BTS Jungkook’s HYBE Stocks Receives Shocking Sentence

The Chinese mastermind of an international hacking organization targeting BTS member Jungkook and domestic tycoons was sentenced. On August 20th, the Criminal Division 31 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Park Joon Seok) sentenced a Chinese national, identified as A, to 20 years in prison on charges including fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes and violation of the Information and Communications Network Act. The court judged A as the ringleader based on evidence such as the use of similarly named WeChat accounts linked to him and matching phone numbers appearing in conversations. The existence of external hard drives containing targeted victims and chat logs with accomplices were also cited as evidence. The court pointed out, “Victims were selected based on their wealth and had their assets stolen,” and added, “Unlike typical voice phishing cases, these victims lost their assets in a defenseless state without any fault of their own.” Furthermore, the court described the crime as a serious offense that undermined not only individuals but the foundation of the financial system. They considered the fact that the damages amoun...