Yoo Young-sang, CEO of SK Telecom, appeared at a Skyscraper Hall at SKT Tower in Jung-gu, Seoul, on the 25th to issue an apology for the leak of SK Telecom users’ USIM information due to a hacker attack. The photo shows him bowing his head in apology. In relation to the hacking incident, Yoo will attend a parliamentary hearing. Political criticism towards SK Telecom has been intensifying, and it is expected that there will be a barrage of harsh criticisms.
According to the IT industry on the 30th, CEO Yoo is scheduled to testify at the ‘YTN and Broadcasting Communications Hearing’, held by the National Assembly’s Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, at 10 a.m. He is expected to respond to questions from lawmakers regarding the hacking incident.
Yoo will likely be questioned and reprimanded concerning the cause and circumstances of the hacking, the scale of the damage, and preventative measures, as well as the delays in reporting, insufficient notification to subscribers, and the shortage of USIM replacements which have been issues in the response to the incident.
The committee previously stated that the personal data and communication safety of 23 million subscribers are seriously threatened. It criticized SK Telecom sharply, pointing out the company’s failure to report the incident within 24 hours and suggesting that the details and scope of the incident were downplayed and concealed, causing public trust to plummet. It emphasized that all aspects of the delayed and minimized response must be clarified during the hearing on the 30th, warning Yoo of the impending rebuke. Initially, SK Telecom Vice President Ryu Jung-hwan was to attend, but considering the severity of the issue, CEO Yoo was summoned as a witness.