Ten South Korean nationals – five men and five women – were sentenced to one year in prison each for hacking into data storage systems at the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications in order to obtain victims’ banking details and make unauthorised transactions.

Judge Chhay Vireak said the accused – Korean men Kim Yunsuk, Kim Dohyun, Kang Inwon, Kang Sun and Jo Winsub, and women Park Mijin, Park Miyeon, Hye Yung Park, Yoo Han Jin and Lee Yunmin – had initially been handed five charges, though four were subsequently dropped. They were convicted yesterday on the charge of engaging in a conspiracy to commit a criminal offense.

Colonel Chhay Chhun, chief of anti-terror police at the Ministry of Interior, said the group were “skillful” criminals.

“They listened to people’s secret consversations on the telephone in order to know or find out about their bank accounts or code numbers to steal their money,” he said.

The group has already spent 10 months in prison, and defendant Kim Yunsuk said yesterday that they would simply serve out the remaining two months, rather than appeal.