[2026 Parliamentary Audit] Five Major Bank Chiefs at National Assembly: "We Sincerely Apologize for Hacking Incident"

All five bank chiefs appeared as witnesses at a parliamentary audit on October 19
They also pledged to prevent a recurrence and emphasized expanding budgets and other measures

The heads of the five major commercial banks (KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, and NH NongHyup) bowed their heads at a parliamentary audit, saying they were sorry to the public over recent hacking incidents in the financial sector.

KB Kookmin Bank President Lee Hwanju (from left), Shinhan Bank President Jeong Sanghyeok, Hana Bank President Lee Hoseong, Woori Bank President Jeong Jinwan, and NH Nonghyup Bank President Kang Taeyoung take their seats after taking an oath during a parliamentary audit of the Financial Supervisory Service and other institutions, held by the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee on the 19th. Yonhap News

Lee Hwanju, president of KB Kookmin Bank, appeared as a witness at the National Assembly Political Affairs Committee's audit of the Financial Supervisory Service on October 19 and said, "I would like to offer my sincere apologies to our customers and the public for causing concern over this incident at a financial institution that should be built on trust." It was the first time in four years, since October 2022, that the heads of all five banks had been selected as witnesses for a parliamentary audit.

Lee added, "To prevent a recurrence, we will make every effort to secure sufficient budgets and personnel and establish a security system based on the assumption that the framework itself could be hacked using artificial intelligence (AI)."

Lee Hoseong, president of Hana Bank, also said, "We are deeply sorry for causing concern to our customers and the public over the damage from AI hacking. We will allocate more budget and personnel to address this issue, put the necessary systems in place, and prepare for AI hacking to prevent such damage from happening again."

Kim Jaeseop of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee, told the bank heads during the audit that day, "In Shinhan Bank's case, it took 15 hours and 26 minutes to detect the hacking. At KB Kookmin Bank, although the amount of data leaked was relatively small, it took several days to detect the hacking, which was a very long time. There is a very high likelihood that information was leaked by hackers, people selling databases (DBs), or brokers. Do you feel responsible for this?"

In response, Jung Sanghyuk, president of Shinhan Bank, said, "We are sorry."

Jeong Jinwan, president of Woori Bank, said, "Even if we were not hacked this time, I think we were just lucky," adding, "We will do our utmost to maintain a system such as financial security and prevent any damage."

Kang Taeyoung, president of NH NongHyup Bank, also said, "As a security measure, we will further upgrade the next-generation integrated control system we established in 2022, both this year and next year, to ensure that we are fully prepared."

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