Korean television personality Kim Won-hee recently shared the terrifying details of a sophisticated hacking incident that forced her to step back from the public eye. The star revealed that the cyberattack was so unsettling it caused her to halt her YouTube activities and reconsider her online presence.
The 54-year-old celebrity explained that her troubles began when a hacker, believed to be a foreigner, seized control of her Instagram account. The situation quickly escalated from a simple account takeover to a chilling personal security breach. “They demanded money over a phone call in the middle of the night,” Kim Won-hee recounted, describing the experience as “truly creepy.”
The invasion of privacy didn’t stop there. The hacker also broke into her Netflix account, changing her profile picture to a bizarre image of a chicken head and switching the account language to Turkish, making it nearly impossible for her to regain control. The shock and violation from the event were profound. “It was a huge shock,” she admitted, which led her to take a hiatus from her work, including her YouTube channel, “Kim Won-hee TV,” which she had just started.
Kim Won-hee described the hacker as highly skilled, not an amateur. For the safety of her followers and to avoid encouraging the criminal, she chose not to engage or pay the ransom. After a year of silence, the hacker surprisingly offered to return the account. She stood firm and refused to pay, successfully recovering her digital assets without giving in to the demands.
While she has now regained control of all her accounts, the experience has made her cautious about social media. However, Kim Won-hee expressed a desire to reconnect with her audience, stating, “As a celebrity, I feel like I need a YouTube channel,” signaling her intention to return and communicate with fans once again.
