Minister Han Sung-sook Apologizes for Data Leak in Government Startup Project; Victims Remain Anxious

[Anchor]

A data breach has occurred in "Startup for All," a government-led entrepreneurship project, exposing the personal information of 5,000 successful applicants. While Minister of SMEs and Startups Han Sung-sook has issued an apology and the government has announced protective measures, victims are expressing anxiety that their business ideas may be stolen.

Reporter Choi Seung-hoon has the story.

[Reporter]

Minister of SMEs and Startups Han Sung-sook, who is currently preparing for her confirmation hearing as Prime Minister, bowed her head on her way to work.

[Han Sung-sook / Prime Minister Nominee and Minister of SMEs and Startups: I sincerely apologize to the users who have experienced worry and inconvenience due to the personal information leak on the 'Startup for All' platform.]

She issued the apology as the head of the ministry after the personal information of 5,000 successful applicants was leaked from "Startup for All," a project to foster entrepreneurial talent promoted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

On June 15, the basic information of the applicants was made public online, and on the same day, their private email addresses, summaries of their business ideas, and evaluation comments were also leaked.

The Korea Institute of Startup and Entrepreneurship Development, which manages personal information for "Startup for All," stated in its data breach report that the incident was not caused by an external cyberattack, but by an AI solution company that supports the applicants.

It was found that the company used an abnormal data retrieval method to extract information that had been set to private within the system.

However, the company reportedly claims that its intention was to send promotional emails to the applicants and that it only used the email addresses that were already public.

[Noh Yong-seok / First Vice Minister of SMEs and Startups: The National Intelligence Service investigation confirmed that nine IP addresses made abnormal API calls (data requests). Detailed investigations into their specific locations and the business entities involved are currently underway.]

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups has decided to assist the 5,000 applicants by providing free registration for certificates that prove they possess their business ideas. For those who have already registered their businesses, the ministry will also support "technology escrow" for one year, which involves securely storing confidential documents.

However, the anxiety of the victims has not subsided.

[Participant in "Startup for All": I don't know if these protective measures mean much since the data has already been leaked. If a company with more capital than me creates the product first, my opportunity to start a business will be gone.]

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups plans to postpone the recruitment for the second cohort of "Startup for All," which was scheduled for next month, and focus on preventing the misuse of the leaked business ideas.

(Reported by Cho Chun-dong | Video by Park Na-young)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.