In response to the SK Telecom USIM information leak, legal actions are gaining momentum. Ha Hee-bong, the lead attorney at Lawpid Law Firm, announced on the 30th that a payment order request for 500,000 KRW in damages against SK Telecom has been filed with the Seoul Central District Court. This request is not a collective lawsuit itself but a preliminary step ahead of a full-fledged group legal action, taken to swiftly start legal procedures rather than waiting for the government’s final investigative results.
Attorney Ha stated that the payment order is just the start, and a separate “class action” for over 1,500 victims who have expressed willingness to participate will be pursued separately. In Korea, group lawsuits are particularly defined in sectors like securities with restrictions on their scope and impact upon winning. Cases involving multiple victims, like this one, often proceed with joint lawsuits. Under civil lawsuit law, methods such as joint litigation and selected parties are available for multiple victims to file suits collectively.
The Lawpid Law Firm successfully represented multiple victims in a lawsuit for consumers against manufacturers regarding the “environmental hormone baby bathtub” last year. Other law firms, like Lohnjip, are also handling claims for damages due to personal information leaks involving SK Telecom.
The Citizens’ Committee for Civil Rights filed a lawsuit on the same day, demanding 3 million KRW per person as compensation, citing SK Telecom’s inadequate management of customer data and its obligations under the Personal Information Protection Act.