Park Jin Hyok Biography: Net Worth, Age, Wife, Parents, Height, Movies, Sanctions, FBI
Park Jin Hyok is a North Korean computer programmer charged by the United States in connection with some of the costliest cyberattacks on record. He is also known as Jin Hyok Park and Pak Jin Hek.
Born in 1990 in North Korea, Park is alleged to have worked for Chosun Expo Joint Venture, a front company tied to the North Korean military intelligence unit Lab 110, first in China and later in North Korea.
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US prosecutors say he acted on behalf of the Reconnaissance General Bureau as part of the hacking team known as the Lazarus Group.
On September 6, 2018, the Department of Justice unsealed a criminal complaint charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit computer-related fraud. The complaint links him to the 2014 hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment, the 2017 WannaCry ransomware outbreak, and the $81 million theft from Bangladesh Bank.
The Treasury Department sanctioned him the same day, and he remains on the FBI wanted list. North Korea denies he exists.
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| Wiki Facts & About Data | |
| Name: | Park Jin Hyok |
| Born: | February 4, 1990 (age 36 years old) |
| Place of Birth: | North Korea |
| Nationality: | North Korean |
| Ethnicity: | Korean |
| Education: | Kim Chaek University of Technology |
| Religion: | No Religion |
| Parents: | Mr. and Mrs. Park |
| Occupation: | Computer Programmer |
| Net Worth: | $500,000-$1 million |
Early Life & Education
Park Jin Hyok was born on February 4, 1990, in North Korea. His zodiac sign is Aquarius.
Park is ethnically Korean and, like most people in North Korea, follows no religion. Mr. and Mrs. Park raised him in North Korea, and nothing is publicly known about any siblings.
He attended Kim Chaek University of Technology in Pyongyang. After university, he worked as a programmer for Chosun Expo Joint Venture, a role that took him to China. The FBI lists English, Korean, and Mandarin Chinese among the languages he speaks.
Career
Park Jin Hyok worked as a programmer for Chosun Expo Joint Venture, also known as Korea Expo Joint Venture. Its website described the company as North Korea’s “first internet company” and listed gaming, gambling, e-payments, and image recognition software among its focus areas.
US investigators call the firm a North Korean government front operating from Dalian, China, and North Korea, and tie it to Lab 110, a unit of the country’s military intelligence. Court filings describe Park as proficient in multiple programming languages, network security, and software development.
The criminal complaint alleges that Park belonged to the hacking team known as the Lazarus Group, also called Hidden Cobra and Group 123, and that its operations ran from 2014 to 2018, with attempts to steal more than $1 billion from banks worldwide. Prosecutors say the group worked on behalf of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, using Chosun Expo Joint Venture as cover.
The first major attack attributed to the group was the November 2014 breach of Sony Pictures Entertainment, widely seen as retaliation for The Interview, a comedy starring Seth Rogen and James Franco about a plot to assassinate Kim Jong Un.
The attackers sent phishing emails to Sony Pictures Entertainment staff, to AMC Theatres, which planned to screen the film, and to Mammoth Screen, a British company producing a television series set in North Korea.
The breach exposed Social Security numbers, financial records, salary details, and executive emails, leaked four unreleased films, and cost the studio tens of millions of dollars. Sony Pictures Entertainment cancelled the film’s theatrical release before putting it online.
In February 2016, attackers sent fraudulent SWIFT messages that moved $81 million out of Bangladesh Bank’s account at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, one of the largest bank thefts on record.
Investigators linked the heist to the Sony Pictures Entertainment attack through a small pool of shared email and social media accounts, including a Gmail contact list that held the addresses of 37 Bangladesh Bank employees. The same accounts were also used against banks in Vietnam and the Philippines and against US defense contractors, including Lockheed Martin.
The complaint also holds Park and the Lazarus Group responsible for all three versions of WannaCry, the ransomware released on May 12, 2017, that infected computers in about 150 countries and disrupted hospitals, factories, banks, and government agencies, including the British health care system.
Poor operational security led investigators to Park. He reused personal and Chosun Expo Joint Venture email accounts that overlapped with the group’s operational accounts, and agents obtained 100 search warrants covering about 1,000 email and social media accounts.
A federal arrest warrant was issued on June 8, 2018. On September 6, 2018, the Department of Justice unsealed the 179-page complaint in Los Angeles, charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit computer-related fraud.
The Treasury Department sanctioned Park and Chosun Expo Joint Venture the same day, barring US banks from dealing with either. Park is believed to be in North Korea and remains on the FBI Cyber Most Wanted list, while North Korea denies he exists.
Personal Life
Park Jin Hyok is 36 years old, based on his February 4, 1990 birth date.
His marital status is not publicly confirmed. No wife, marriage, or engagement has been documented, and no spouse has been named in court filings, sanctions notices, or the FBI wanted notice. Children are likewise unconfirmed, with no records naming any son or daughter.
His height has not been published. The FBI notice lists his hair as black, his eyes as brown, and his race as Asian, but gives no height in centimetres or feet.
His dating history is also unconfirmed, as no relationships have surfaced in public records. The North Korean government denies that Park exists, and very little about his private life has reached the public.
Net Worth
Park Jin Hyok’s net worth is between $500,000 and $1 million.
He earned a salary as a programmer for the state-linked Chosun Expo Joint Venture, and the $81 million taken from Bangladesh Bank and the other thefts attributed to the Lazarus Group are charged as the work of a state-backed conspiracy, not as personal income.
The Treasury Department blocked any property he holds under US jurisdiction in 2018.
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