Prosecution Appeals Against Transfer of Teenage Boy to Juvenile Court for Hacking Aladin and Extorting Money

After the family court's juvenile division decided to transfer the case of a teenager who hacked the famous online bookstore 'Aladin' and extorted money, the prosecution filed an appeal.

On the 7th, the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office explained that considering Park's (17) method of crime and the amount of damage, the nature of the crime is serious, and that both accomplices Park Mo (31) and Jung Mo (26), who were relatively less involved, were sentenced to prison. A prosecution official emphasized, "We will do our best to maintain the prosecution so that a sentence commensurate with the crime can be imposed."

Earlier, the Seoul Eastern District Court Criminal Division 11 (Chief Judge Kim Byung-chul) announced on the 2nd that Park, who was indicted in custody on charges of fraud under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, violation of the Information and Communications Network Act, and extortion, would be transferred to the family court's juvenile division. The court stated, "We cannot help but express serious concern about how our modern values have been distorted to the extent that this young student can shamelessly commit extortion acts seen only in movies and attempt to erase traces using Bitcoin," but also said, "Park could fully utilize his talents to become a star of Silicon Valley as we know it, or he could follow the path of those who became wanderers overseas due to cryptocurrency."

The court added, "If there is even a slight possibility that he can use his intellectual curiosity to live a proper life, choosing that path might be of some help to Park, his family, and our society," and "We decided to believe in Park's future potential and give him another chance." Under current law, criminal cases involving juveniles aged 10 to under 19 can be transferred to the family court's juvenile division. After the hearing, the juvenile division judge can impose appropriate protective measures on the juvenile.

In May 16 of last year, Park hacked Aladin and threatened, "If you do not send 100 BTC (approximately 3.6 billion KRW at the time), it will go up to 1 million copies." After negotiations with Park, Aladin agreed to send 8 BTC (approximately 290 million KRW at the time) in three installments. When only 0.319 BTC was transferred due to detection of abnormal transactions at a domestic virtual asset exchange, Park demanded 75.2 million KRW in cash equivalent to 2 BTC.