(C) PCMagUK

SEOUL, South Korea—In a high-profile case involving illegal transactions with a North Korean hacker, Oh Mo-ssi (39), the husband of the founder of the prominent athleisure brand Andar and a former in-house director, has been sentenced to one year in prison, with the court ordering his immediate detention. The Seoul Western District Court's Criminal Appeals Division 1, led by Judge Ban Jeong-woo, upheld the original ruling on November 13, dismissing both Oh’s and the prosecution's appeals.

Oh was charged with violating the National Security Act (Aiding the Enemy, Assembly/Communication, etc.) for his dealings between July 2014 and May 2015. During this period, while operating an illegal private server for an online game, Oh repeatedly contacted a North Korean hacker known as 'Eric' to acquire a hacking program capable of disabling security software.

Court records indicate Oh paid a total of 23.8 million KRW (approximately $18,000 USD) across six transactions between October 2014 and March 2015 for the hacking programs. He also commissioned Eric for cyberattacks, including hacking and Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks, against rival private game servers.

Eric was identified as a development team leader at the Rungrado Information Center, a unit under the Korea Rungrado Trading General Company, which is a foreign currency-earning organization under the Worker's Party of Korea's Room 39. Despite its facade as a legitimate trading company, the center was investigated for manufacturing and selling illegal programs, such as automated hunting software for online games and tools for DDoS attacks, to generate funds for the North Korean regime. Eric is considered a dangerous individual possessing capabilities for DDoS attacks and cyber terrorism.

The initial trial found that Oh’s actions—exchanging communication and providing money to a North Korean affiliate gathering governing funds—posed a "significant threat to national security." The first court also noted Oh's prior convictions for fraud, assault, and defamation, concluding that he exhibited a "notoriously deficient sense of legal compliance." The appellate court affirmed the decision, finding no change in the sentencing conditions to warrant a modification of the initial judgment of one year in prison and one year of suspension of qualifications.

Oh is married to Shin Ae-ryeon, the founder of the yoga wear brand Andar, and previously managed the company’s online distribution and marketing as an executive director. Andar has been operating under a professional management structure since its acquisition by Ecomarketing in 2021.