South Korea arrests suspected Chinese hacker accused of targeting BTS singer and other celebrities

South Korean police have arrested a Chinese national suspected of leading a hacking ring that stole tens of millions of dollars from wealthy victims. 

The 34-year-old suspect, identified only by his surname Jeon, was taken into custody last Friday and appeared in court on Sunday for a pretrial detention hearing, according to the Seoul police. He was extradited from Thailand late last week, South Korea’s justice ministry said in a statement.

Police said Jeon ran a hacking operation overseas between August 2023 and January 2024, targeting Korean telecom company websites to steal personal data. His group allegedly used the information to open mobile phone accounts under victims’ names, then accessed their bank and cryptocurrency accounts, siphoning off assets worth more than 38 billion won ($29 million).

“The suspect admits to some of the allegations while denying others,” police said during a press briefing on Monday. 

South Korea’s justice ministry said victims included celebrities, corporate executives and technology entrepreneurs. Local media reported that among those targeted was BTS singer Jungkook, who nearly had his securities account hacked  after his military enlistment last year. His brokerage froze payments before any actual losses occurred, the reports said.

South Korean authorities said they worked with Interpol and Thai officials to track Jeon after confirming he had entered Thailand in April. He was arrested within two weeks and extradited four months later.

Police said they are continuing to analyze seized evidence and will question Jeon about possible additional crimes.

In a separate case last week, Thai cyber police arrested a 33-year-old South Korean man at a Bangkok airport on suspicion of laundering cryptocurrency into gold bars for international fraud networks.The suspect denied the charges but told police he had studied in China for six years before returning to South Korea to work for a company that converted digital assets into gold.