President Lee Jae-myung stated on July 16 that the increase in fines for personal data violations is based on laws and policies without consideration for the characteristics of any specific company.
During a report from the Personal Data Protection Commission at the Blue House, President Lee remarked, "Recently, the amount of fines related to personal data protection has increased, and it seems that some companies are claiming, 'Is this targeting me?'"
His comments are interpreted as a rebuttal to Coupang, which received a record fine exceeding 620 billion won due to a massive data breach, and to claims made by Coupang that the penalties constitute discrimination against American companies.
President Lee emphasized, "It should be clearly explained that the South Korean government's policy is to strengthen sanctions, and that these actions are taken according to laws and policies without regard for the characteristics of any company."
He added, "According to the recently established policy, we need to significantly increase the penalties for data breaches or misuse so that the costs of personal data protection far exceed those of companies, compelling them to engage in actual data protection activities."
Song Kyung-hee, chair of the Personal Data Protection Commission, stated, "The commission focuses on legal violations and imposes strict and fair penalties regardless of the country, company, or institution involved. In fact, companies that report violations in good faith receive benefits in the form of reduced fines."
Earlier, on June 10, the Personal Data Protection Commission imposed a record fine of 624.681 billion won on Coupang for its responsibility in the leakage of personal data affecting 37.5 million customers.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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