Suspended Sentence Given to 20s Who Bought and Resold Thousands of Masks Using Macros Amid 'Mask Shortage' Crisis

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] A man in his 20s who used a macro program to buy thousands of masks during the 'mask crisis' caused by the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) and resold them at high prices was given a suspended sentence.

On the 4th, Judge Ryu Hee-hyun of the Seoul Southern District Court Criminal Division 13 announced that Kim (29), who was indicted on charges of obstruction of business, was sentenced to six months in prison with a two-year suspension and ordered to pay a fine of about 1.1 million won.

Kim was tried on charges of purchasing about 2.2 million won worth of KF94 masks, approximately 2,700 pieces, using a 'macro' program that automatically opened the purchase page when masks were restocked on the e-commerce website Coupang in February this year.

It was investigated that Kim purchased the 'macro' program in advance for 200,000 won to commit the crime, prepared seven accounts to get approval for bulk mask purchases on Coupang, and used multiple addresses.

Kim resold the masks he bought at high prices.

The court stated, "The defendant seriously obstructed Coupang's business of supplying masks fairly and affordably to general consumers and deprived consumers of the opportunity to purchase masks, which makes the nature of the crime very bad," but added, "However, considering that the profit gained from the crime was not large and the defendant is reflecting on his wrongdoing, these factors were taken into account favorably in sentencing."

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