Late Kim Jeong-ju's Cryptocurrency Account Hacked Posthumously... 8.5 Billion KRW Stolen

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] The cryptocurrency account of the late Kim Jung-ju, former chairman of Nexon who passed away last February, was hacked, resulting in the theft of approximately 8.5 billion KRW worth of cryptocurrency. One member of the hacking criminal organization was sentenced to six years in prison.

According to the legal community on the 29th, on the 3rd of last month, the 12th Criminal Division of the Seoul Eastern District Court (Presiding Judge Lee Jong-chae) sentenced Mr. A to six years in prison and his accomplice Mr. B to one year and six months in prison for violations of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (fraud) and the Information and Communications Network Act (network intrusion), respectively.

The members of the hacking organization used a method of illegally duplicating the 'USIM' inserted into mobile phones to hack cryptocurrency accounts. Mr. A was responsible for USIM replacement and theft of communication information, while Mr. B handled USIM replacement, planning the crime together. More than ten people, including former Chairman Kim, were targeted by their hacking attempts. The specific damages suffered by the other hacking victims have not been confirmed.

In May, those who duplicated former Chairman Kim's USIM infiltrated his cryptocurrency account opened on the domestic cryptocurrency exchange 'Korbit.' It was investigated that they siphoned off Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies worth approximately 8.5 billion KRW in 27 transactions. Korbit found the transactions from Kim's account suspicious and reported them to investigative authorities.

The court explained the sentencing rationale for Mr. A, stating, "Considering the method of the crime, the amount defrauded, and the number of victims, the nature of the crime is very serious." It added, "He received over 100 million KRW as proceeds from the crime from an accomplice and committed the crime again during the recidivism period, less than three years after being punished for a similar offense." Mr. A was previously sentenced to two years and six months in prison in 2018 for fraud and other charges.

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