"Legal Review to Be Re-Requested from Law Firms After Joint Public-Private Investigation Results Are Released"
The Ministry of Science and ICT, which is investigating the SK Telecom hacking incident, announced on the 27th that it will report the results of its investigation to the National Assembly on the 30th.
Yoo Sangim, Minister of Science and ICT, attended the plenary session of the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee on this day and gave this answer in response to a question from Lee Hoonki, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, regarding the schedule for announcing the investigation results. Kang Dohyun, the Second Vice Minister, added, "The results of the joint public-private investigation team will be available by the 30th," and explained, "We plan to report the relevant situation to the task force (TF) team established in the National Assembly regarding the SKT hacking incident, and we will further discuss the timing and format of the public announcement."
Minister Yoo stated that regarding the government's position on whether SK Telecom will be exempt from penalty charges, "To avoid causing any inconvenience to the next minister, we plan to announce our position around July 4." He also revealed that the results of the joint public-private investigation team's hacking incident investigation will be reanalyzed by law firms.
Previously, at the beginning of last month, the Ministry of Science and ICT had sought legal advice from law firms on the standards that should be considered in determining SK Telecom's liability and on the possible level of disciplinary action if SK Telecom is found liable. This means that a second round of consultation will be conducted. Minister Yoo explained the reason for the renewed request, saying, "The law firms said they need to see the results of the joint public-private investigation team in order to make an appropriate judgment."
In response, Representative Lee criticized, "Two months ago, the Ministry of Science and ICT said it would make a judgment on SKT's terms of service based on the law firms' advice, but now says that advice is no longer valid and a new request must be made. This is a change of position."
Minister Yoo countered, "I never said the previous advice was useless. Since the law firms do not know the results of the joint public-private investigation team, we are simply asking them to make a new judgment. There is nothing wrong with this."
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