[Comprehensive] Ha Jung-woo Reveals Conversation with Hacker: "What Kind of Dog Name Is 1.3 Billion?"

Ha Jung-woo Responds to Hacker's Threat with 'Pengsoo Emoticon'

Actor Ha Jung-woo / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Actor Ha Jung-woo, who was a victim of cellphone hacking, has revealed the messenger conversations exchanged with the hacker at the time of the incident. Ha Jung-woo's cellphone was hacked last December, and he was threatened for about a month by an unidentified hacker.

On the 20th, Dispatch released part of the messenger conversations between Ha Jung-woo and the hacker. According to the report, the hacker, who called himself 'Goho,' a member of a black hat hacker group, hacked Ha Jung-woo's cellphone, email, text messages, and other personal information, and demanded 1.5 billion KRW as ransom.

The first threatening message Ha Jung-woo received from the hacker was on December 2 last year. The hacker threatened Ha Jung-woo by claiming "I hacked your cellphone" and used the threat of personal information leakage. Ha Jung-woo did not respond initially but replied the next day, December 3, saying, "I will proceed sincerely, so please do not rush or pressure me too much."

Afterwards, Ha Jung-woo exchanged several messages with the hacker to gather related information. He found out that the hacker hacked by cloning the cellphone and also identified that the hacker was located domestically.

Actor Ha Jung-woo / Photo by Yonhap News

During the conversation with the hacker, he sent messages such as "If you want to talk about trust, please be polite. I've been shivering all day and living like cartilage," and "1.3 billion is not a dog's name, so I have to sell all my pear and radish fields. Or I can give you my pear field, so try selling it."

Ha Jung-woo also told the hacker, "Change your profile picture. You give off a hard-to-approach vibe," "You contacted me at the busiest time of my year, unlucky for you," and "I have to go to work now. Let's talk again tomorrow," while sending a Pengsoo emoticon, showing a relaxed attitude.

As the police investigation progressed, Ha Jung-woo emphasized that this was not a simple matter while discussing the payment method to buy more time. In particular, the hacker set December 19, the release date of Ha Jung-woo's starring movie 'Baekdusan,' as the date to receive the money and continued the threats, but Ha Jung-woo did not respond to the hacker from the 19th to the 21st.

Subsequently, the prosecution arrested the hacker group. On the 7th, the 7th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Byun Pil-geon) indicted two people, Park (40) and Kim (31), on charges of extortion and violation of the Information and Communications Network Act.

They are accused of hacking the cellphones of five famous celebrities, including Ha Jung-woo and Joo Jin-mo, last year, threatening to leak personal information, and extorting about 600 million KRW. Although two members of the hacker group were arrested, the nickname 'Goho,' who directly communicated with Ha Jung-woo, is known to have fled to China.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.