“Ordered to do it” Is China Behind It?… Investigation into ‘KT Micro-Payments’ Expands

[‘\n‘,
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, ‘\nThe detention warrant review for the suspects involved in the KT micropayment case was held this morning (18th).\xa0When asked by reporters about the details of the crime, one of them claimed that they acted under orders. The police believe there are higher-ups involved and are expanding their investigation.’,
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, ‘\nThis is Kim Bo-mi reporting.’,
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, ‘\nA man wearing a black hat steps down from the transport vehicle and walks towards the court.’,
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, ‘\nThe suspect is a man in his 40s, identified as Mr. A, a Chinese national, accused of hacking into KT subscribers’ mobile phones to make micropayments.’,
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, ‘\nWhen asked by reporters why he committed the crime, Mr. A responded, “I did as I was told.”‘,
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, ‘\n[Mr. A/Suspect in KT Micropayment Case: (How did you access the victims’ personal information? Was there a reason for targeting the metropolitan area?) I did as I was told. (Who gave you the instructions?)]’,
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, ‘\nAnother suspect, Mr. B, also in his 40s, accused of converting the crime proceeds to cash, entered the court without answering questions about the scale of money converted.’,
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, ‘\nPolice apprehended them successively at Incheon International Airport and in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul.’,
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, ‘\nMr. A is accused of carrying illegal small base station equipment in a van, hacking into the mobile phones of KT users who were living or staying in certain areas to make unauthorized micropayments to purchase mobile gift cards or charge transportation cards.’,
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, ‘\nThe police believe Mr. B was responsible for converting the gift cards obtained through unauthorized transactions into cash.’,
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, ‘\nInitially, the case was reported to Gwangmyeong Police Station in Gyeonggi Province but was transferred to the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency as more victims emerged.’,
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, ‘\nThe victims, who were all KT telecom users residing in the Sosa-dong area of Gwangmyeong City, Gyeonggi Province, suffered losses of several hundred thousand won through unauthorized micropayments, mostly during the early morning.’,
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, ‘\nBased on Mr. A’s statement that he acted on instructions from someone in China, the police plan to continue their investigation into finding the higher-ups responsible for directing the crime.’,
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, ‘\n(Video editing: Park Chun-bae)\n’]