Unpleasant news came from the maknae of the South Korean boy group BTS, Jeon Jung Kook. On Saturday March 22, 2025, the media Biz Hankook revealed that BTS's Jungkook was a victim of identity theft.
The perpetrator, whose identity is unknown, tried to illegally seize around 8.44 billion KRW of Jungkook's HYBE shares without permission by taking advantage of Jungkook's absence during his military service.
It is known that Jungkook began his military service on December 12, 2023 with Jimin and is scheduled to finish on June 11, 2025. And there is speculation that someone close to Jungkook may have been involved in this crime considering that the perpetrator had access to Jungkook's account, ID, bank password and other financial information.
This unfortunate incident occurred on January 6, 2024 after BTS's Jungkook had completed his military service. The perpetrator who stole Jungkook's identity, used the information to seize and transfer the BTS member's shares, has not been identified.
The perpetrator's method was to open three securities accounts using Jungkook's name, then use them to transfer 33,500 HYBE Labels shares without Jungkook's knowledge. A total of 33,000 shares (~8.3 billion KRW based on the closing price on January 5, 2024) were transferred to a new securities account created in Jungkook's name.
Meanwhile, 500 shares (~126 million KRW) were sold and transferred to a third party . March 2024. Legal efforts have been made after this incident was revealed. Jungkook filed a lawsuit against the third party who bought the 500 shares.
The lawsuit was granted in February 2025. The Seoul Western District Court ordered a third party to return the shares to Jungkook, concluding that there was no valid share transfer agreement because the plaintiff was a victim of identity theft.
Initially the third party filed an appeal. However, in March 2025 they withdrew the appeal. Big Hit, as the agency that oversees BTS, immediately took action by freezing Jungkook's account and restoring it to minimize the financial losses experienced by Jungkook.
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