Hacker who targeted BTS member Chonguk sentenced to 20 years in prison

The leader of an international hacking group that targeted the assets of BTS member Chonguk and other wealthy individuals in South Korea has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. The Seoul Central District Court found the Chinese national guilty of crimes including fraud and illegally accessing information networks. This was reported by "Yonhap News Agency."

According to investigators, the group illegally obtained the personal information of wealthy citizens in South Korea from August 2023 to early 2025. The criminals opened mobile phone numbers in the victims’ names and attempted to access their bank, stock and cryptocurrency accounts by using verification codes received by phone.

In total, the criminals stole or attempted to steal more than 38 billion won, or approximately 27 million dollars. The group selected victims primarily based on their financial status.

Chonguk also became a target of the hackers. The criminals attempted to seize his HYBE shares worth 8.4 billion won. However, representatives of BigHit Music quickly detected the suspicious activity and took measures to prevent the damage. As a result, Chonguk’s shares were not actually stolen.

The court described the hacking group’s crimes as serious and noted that it had deliberately targeted wealthy people. The investigation found that the group’s victims also included executives of major companies, famous artists and cryptocurrency investors.