Minister of Science and ICT: "LG Uplus Uses Huawei Equipment... Companies Will Decide for Themselves"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Cho] On the 28th, Choi Ki-young, Minister of Science and ICT, drew a line regarding the Trump administration's direct mention of LG Uplus and its pressure to exclude Chinese Huawei's equipment, stating, "The company will make its own judgment."

Minister Choi responded this way to a related inquiry from Park Dae-chul, a member of the Future United Party, during the full meeting of the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee (Science Committee) in the afternoon.

In response to Park's criticism, "Will the government stand by while the U.S. pressures domestic telecom companies?" Minister Choi said, "We are continuously checking whether there are security issues with 5G. There is a 5G Security Committee that reviews fundamental problems and the parts that need to be satisfied," but he repeatedly emphasized, "The company will handle it on its own."

Park then pointed out, "You say you will leave it to corporate autonomy. The government will stand by. It looks like the government is applying pressure," and added, "Since you are not giving an answer, I will continue to press."

Earlier, Robert Strayer, U.S. Department of State Deputy Assistant Secretary for Cyber and International Communications, urged companies like LG Uplus to move away from untrustworthy suppliers to trusted ones during a virtual briefing on the U.S. 5G security policy on the 21st (local time). Following the Trump administration's reference to SK Telecom, which did not choose Huawei equipment, as a 'clean telecom company' ahead of the presidential election, this time directly mentioning LG Uplus's name has inevitably increased the burden on LG Uplus, according to evaluations.