[2026 Audit] Platform Companies Criticized over Personal Data Leaks at Science Committee... LG Uplus Also Questioned for Alleged Hacking Cover-Up

Tving, Toss Payments, Gangnam Unni Acknowledge Responsibility

LG Uplus Also Faces Accusations of Hiding Hacking Incident

Bae Kyunghoon: "If Evidence Tampering or Investigation Obstruction Is Found, Waiver of Penalties Should Be Requested"

Recently, CEOs of platform companies such as Tving, Toss Payments, and Gangnam Unni, which have experienced hacking and personal information leak incidents, were sternly criticized in the National Assembly's parliamentary audit for inadequate security management and acknowledged responsibility for these lapses.

Yonhap News

Choi Juhui, CEO of Tving, appeared as a witness at the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee audit on October 6, 2026, responding to questions from Assemblyman Lee Junghun of the Democratic Party of Korea. She apologized, saying, "As the person in charge, I sincerely apologize to the public and deeply realize that we were negligent regarding security." She added, "We will make every effort by increasing our workforce and investments to bring security to a global level based on zero-trust principles."

Not only CEO Choi, but also representatives of Toss Payments and Healing Paper, the operator of Gangnam Unni, were summoned as witnesses and received intense questioning from lawmakers about their insufficient security management.

Toss Payments was criticized by Assemblyman Lee for its anomaly detection system failing to operate properly, which led to the mass leakage of payment receipts. Im Hanwook, CEO of Toss Payments, acknowledged, "We recognize that there were shortcomings and are taking steps to address them." He continued, "We are providing merchants and others with cash-equivalent gift cards as relief, and are strengthening not only our internal systems but also supervision and management of our merchants."

Hong Seungil, CEO of Healing Paper, the operator of Gangnam Unni, who experienced a breach involving sensitive information such as the desired treatment areas, purchased products, and photos of approximately 220,000 users from 103 countries, also issued an apology, saying, "I fully acknowledge my responsibility."

In response to criticism that this happened even though the company acquired the Information Security Management System (ISMS) certification in 2024, CEO Hong replied, "We felt a keen lack in our preventive measures," and promised, "We will more than triple the number of staff in charge of security and increase our security investment by 2.5 times." He further committed, "In addition to providing a 50,000-point reward, we will operate a dedicated counseling center and cover legal expenses for victims of secondary damage arising from the sensitive information leak."

Yonhap News Agency

Meanwhile, LG Uplus, which has faced allegations of covering up a hacking incident, was also questioned about whether it properly preserved original server and forensic data after being notified of the hacking. Assemblyman Han Junho of the Democratic Party of Korea pointed out that LG Uplus reinstalled the operating system (OS) on related servers after being notified of the incident by the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA), and inquired about the timing of forensic image creation and whether the raw data was preserved.

Bae Kyunghoon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT, stated, "If it is found that evidence was intentionally destroyed or that any actions hindered the investigation, a request should be made for the waiver of penalties," and added, "If cases of major service disruption or violations of key contractual obligations are uncovered, the government will actively move to enforce waivers of penalties."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.