Lawmakers Summon Choi Taewon to Demand Answers on "Penalty Fee Waiver"
Choi Taewon Submits Written Explanation for Absence, Citing Preparation for APEC Trade Ministers' Meeting
Proposes Attendance of SKT CEO Yoo Youngsang Instead
Committee Chair: "Absence May Lead to Complaint Under National Assembly Act"
Lawmakers to Review Legitimacy of Absence Reasons
Choi Taewon, Chairman of SK Group, appeared as a witness at the comprehensive audit of the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee on the evening of October 24, 2022, responding to lawmakers' questions. If Chairman Choi's attendance at the hearing is confirmed on the 8th, SKT will inevitably face full-scale political and social accountability issues, including responsibility for the hacking incident and whether penalty fees will be waived. Yonhap News
After Choi Taewon, Chairman of SK Group, expressed his intention not to attend the National Assembly hearing scheduled for May 8 regarding the SK Telecom USIM hacking incident, the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee announced that it would review the validity of his reasons and consider whether to file a complaint.
On May 6, a representative of Choi Minhee, the chairperson of the committee, told Asia Economy, "Chairman Choi cited preparations for the APEC Trade Ministers’ Meeting on May 15 and attendance at the AMCHAM (American Chamber of Commerce in Korea) event scheduled for the 8th as reasons in his written explanation. However, whether these reasons are legitimate is up to the lawmakers to judge," adding, "As of now, we do not accept his absence."
The committee had planned to hold a hearing on the 8th, calling Chairman Choi as a witness to question him about the circumstances and response to the hacking incident. In particular, during the hearing on April 30, lawmakers from both parties demanded that SKT waive penalty fees for customers wishing to switch carriers after the USIM hacking incident. Since Yoo Youngsang, CEO of SKT, did not give a definite answer, lawmakers requested Chairman Choi's attendance at the National Assembly.
However, Chairman Choi submitted a written explanation for his absence and proposed that CEO Yoo attend the hearing on his behalf. The committee chairperson's office responded, "Substitute attendance is not acceptable," and stated, "If he is absent, a complaint can be filed in accordance with the National Assembly Act, and whether to proceed with a complaint will be decided after discussion among lawmakers." They added, "We also plan to review whether the events listed in the written explanation are sufficient grounds to justify missing the hearing."
As of now, SK Group has not submitted any additional statements or measures regarding the incident at the group level. The committee plans to focus on examining whether SKT will waive penalty fees for affected customers, the scope of the leaked information, and the company's post-incident response system.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
