KT Apologizes for Personal Information Commission's Fine... LG Uplus to "Cooperatively Comply with Investigation"

KT issued an official apology and initiated measures to prevent recurrence after receiving a penalty surcharge of approximately 53.9 billion won from the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) regarding a personal data leak incident.

LG Uplus also stated that it will fully cooperate with the police investigation regarding the request for investigation related to suspected obstruction of the investigation.

KT announced today (July 30) that it apologizes for the PIPC's decision to impose a penalty surcharge of approximately 53.9 billion won regarding the personal data leak caused by illegal femtocells last year, and will pursue measures to prevent recurrence.

In an official statement released today, KT said, "We accept the disciplinary outcome with utmost seriousness and bow our heads in a deep apology once again for causing great concern and anxiety to our customers and the public due to the past accident."

The company added, "KT is overhauling its overall personal information protection system from scratch, and we will do our utmost to prevent a recurrence and recover customer trust by expanding security investments and strengthening enterprise-wide personal information protection capabilities."

Regarding whether it will take legal action to contest the PIPC's decision, KT stated, "We plan to review the content thoroughly upon receiving the written resolution and then determine our position."

Earlier, the PIPC held a plenary meeting the previous day and imposed a penalty surcharge of 53.979 billion won on KT. It also recommended improvements such as inspecting vulnerabilities across telecommunication facilities including femtocells to prevent recurrence, ensuring the Chief Privacy Officer (CPO) performs a substantive role, and obtaining Information Security and Personal Information Protection Management System (ISMS-P) certification for the mobile network and systems where the incident occurred.

The commission filed a criminal complaint regarding allegations that KT obstructed the investigation, such as failing to report past malware infections, deleting logs, and submitting fabricated data.

In response, KT stated, "Once the investigation begins, we will faithfully participate in accordance with established procedures."

Meanwhile, the PIPC decided to request a police investigation into LG Uplus on charges of obstructing official duties, citing circumstances where the company allegedly obstructed the investigation by reinstalling and discarding server operating systems (OS) in connection with last year's personal data leak incident.

LG Uplus stated, "A police investigation is already underway regarding the same matter, and we will continue to cooperate faithfully with the investigation."

Regarding a security breach last December, circumstances involving the submission of false data and the disposal of servers by LG Uplus were uncovered, prompting authorities to request an investigation, with procedures such as search and seizure currently underway.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.