Prime Minister Kim Min-seok on Wednesday called for the introduction of punitive fines for repeated and serious personal data breaches, as public concern mounts following a series of high-profile information leaks involving major firms.
Speaking at the opening of a National Policy Coordination Meeting held at the Government Complex Sejong, Kim said the government would push for swift legislative action to impose stronger sanctions on companies that fail to adequately protect customer data.
“The president has already emphasized the principle that strong penalties are necessary for corporate violations,” Kim said, referring to President Lee Jae Myung. “We intend to discuss concrete measures to put that principle into practice.”
Kim criticized the responses of companies implicated in recent data breach cases, saying their handling of the incidents fell far short of public expectations.
“The attitude shown by companies that failed to safeguard customer information has been wholly inadequate from the perspective of the public,” he said, adding that urgent legislative measures would be pursued without delay.
Under the proposed framework, companies found to have committed repeated and serious violations could face fines of up to 10 percent of their total sales. The government also plans to strengthen notification requirements for personal data breaches, ensuring that affected individuals are informed not only of the incident itself but also of their right to seek damages.
Kim further said the government would seek to enhance the enforcement power of investigations through measures such as coercive fines for noncompliance, while also pushing ahead with rapid institutional reforms aimed at recovery and preventing further damage from spreading.
The remarks come amid heightened scrutiny following multiple recent data breach incidents involving major companies.
On Tuesday, Shinhan Card said more than 190,000 suspected cases of business and personal data belonging to partnered merchant operators had been leaked. The company reported the case to the Personal Information Protection Commission, stating that the incident was not caused by hacking but allegedly involved employees who leaked the information for use in new card solicitations. The leaked data included mobile phone numbers, names and dates of birth of merchant representatives.
Separately, the government this week launched an interagency task force to investigate a large-scale data breach at Coupang, which affected 33.7 million users. The task force, led by the Ministry of Science and ICT, includes officials from labor, financial and law enforcement agencies, as well as the intelligence service.
“The government considers the Coupang incident a major social crisis that has damaged public trust,” Second Vice Science Minister Ryu Je-myung said in a statement.
In November, Coupang disclosed that the personal information of nearly all of its members — including names, phone numbers, email addresses and delivery details — had been compromised, though it said sensitive data such as resident registration numbers and financial information was not leaked.
mkjung@heraldcorp.com
