The Ministry of Justice announced on the 22nd that it had forcibly returned the head of a hacking organization from Thailand, which stole the names of domestic financial resources and stole a large amount of money. Jungkook, a member of BTS (BTS), is said to be one of the victims.
According to the Ministry of Justice, A, a Chinese national, organized a hacking crime group abroad, including Thailand, and hacked mobile carrier websites from August 2023 to January last year to secure personal information of BTS, chairman of large corporations, and CEO of venture companies, and secretly opened mobile phones in their names.
It was investigated that A used this to steal money by stealing deposits from victims’ financial accounts and virtual asset accounts. The Ministry of Justice said the damage was about 38 billion won.
The Ministry of Justice obtained information that he entered Thailand in April while working with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and Interpol to track the whereabouts of A. As a result, he immediately filed an “emergency extradition arrest request” against A with the Thai authorities. An emergency extradition arrest request is a request to the other country to secure a new person first before formally requesting extradition.
The Ministry of Justice dispatched prosecutors and investigators to Thailand last month to discuss the repatriation method and timing with officials from the Thai Supreme Prosecutors’ Office and the National Police Agency. As a result, the Ministry of Justice explained that A was secured four months after the emergency extradition arrest request. A arrived at Incheon International Airport at around 5:05 a.m. that day.
An official from the Ministry of Justice said, “We will track down and sternly punish overseas hacking, voice phishing, and online fraud organizations.” The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency will soon investigate A and apply for an arrest warrant.
