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'How could I have known?': Andar founder denies knowledge of husband's payment to North hacker

Published: 18 Nov. 2025, 11:14

Shin Ae-ryun, the founder of sportswear brand Andar, talks with the JoongAng Ilbo in an interview at the firm's offices in Paju, Gyeonggi, on June 7, 2019. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Shin Ae-ryun, the founder of sportswear brand Andar, denied any involvement in her husband’s payment to a North Korean hacker, after a Seoul court upheld a prison sentence against him for violating the National Security Act.

Shin said on Saturday that she had no knowledge of the matter, posting a screenshot of a social media exchange in which a user asked for her view on the case.

Husband of sportswear brand Andar's founder sentenced to prison for transactions with North Korean hackers

“It happened 11 years ago, before we got married. How could I have known?” she responded. “How do you think it feels for me and my children to suffer over something I didn’t even do?”

The user apologized and said they had assumed the case was recent, adding they shared their thoughts because a violation of the National Security Act is "unacceptable in today's climate."

Shin posted the exchange along with a caption saying she had worked hard until now and would continue to do so.

The founder's remarks come after the Seoul Western District Court appeals panel on Thursday upheld a one-year prison sentence for Shin's husband, surnamed Oh, and took him into custody.

Authorities said Oh contacted North Korean hackers several times between 2014 and 2015 while he operated an illegal private server for the online game Lineage. Prosecutors said he paid about 23 million won ($16,000) for hacking tools to disable security programs and asked for attacks on rival servers.

Actor Jun Ji-hyun is pictured in an advertisement for Andar. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Andar said the case has no link to the company, which changed ownership after new management acquired the brand. Company CEO Kong Sung-ah said in a statement on Sunday that Shin and Oh no longer hold shares and that Oh stepped down from all roles in 2021 because of "repeated misconduct."

Previously, Oh's former driver accused him of abusive behavior after leaving the company, saying online that Oh told them to illegally photograph employees at an entertainment venue who wore a competitor’s clothing. The driver also said Oh ordered them to search for a new home for Oh’s mother, move belongings and clean the residence.

"I am a company employee, not a servant. The insults and abuse of power abuse were too much," the driver said.

A court later ruled the driver’s account matched objective facts. Oh had claimed the allegations were false and part of a smear campaign by a competitor.

Oh’s younger sibling also drew criticism for comments directed at a sexual harassment victim at Andar in 2019. An instructor at the company said a colleague forcibly groped her. When the instructor raised the issue, Oh told her, “You aren’t planning to quit, right?” and “When I don’t like someone, I tell them right away that I don’t."

The instructor said the alleged perpetrator had also entered her hotel room at a company workshop without permission, using a key card. Oh held the key cards for the women’s rooms at the time. During police questioning, Oh said they did not remember whether they had handed a key to the alleged perpetrator.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM CHUL-WOONG [[email protected]]