“Among the large law firms, we are the only ones taking the lead in the SKT lawsuit... due to public demand and mission.”

Interview with Cho Young-gon and Yeo Sang-won, representative attorneys of Daeryun Law Firm’s Special Department
“The first ever hacking incident… SKT proves responsibility for intentional and negligent actions and achieves justice.”
Emphasis: “No matter what criticism or pressure we face, we will fulfill our duty as a large law firm on the side of the people.”

A month has passed since the unprecedented server hacking incident in history, but public anger against SK Telecom (SKT) has not subsided. This is because the SIM information of approximately 23 million subscribers has been leaked, but no significant countermeasures have been taken.

Daeryun Law Firm has begun the process of criminal charges and accusations to punish those responsible, and is providing practical legal assistance to affected subscribers. On the 27th, a civil suit was filed with the Seoul Central District Court seeking compensation of 1 million won per person.

As for Daeryun, the Special Action Headquarters (Special Department) has been handling the case since the beginning of the incident. The Special Department is an organization that specializes in mid- to large-scale cases by organizing professional lawyers under the leadership of the head of the division. Legal veterans with nearly 40 years of experience in the legal field handle cases at the forefront.

“Daeryun is the only large law firm among large law firms that is speaking out and carrying out a class action lawsuit regarding the SKT incident,” said Cho Young-gon (16th class of the Judicial Research and Training Institute), a former chief of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office and the head of the special division, who is overseeing this litigation. “Most large law firms are dealing with corporations as clients, so they are showing a passive attitude toward this issue. They are ignoring the harm to the public even though it is clear, which is extremely irresponsible.” “It’s behavior,” he said.

In fact, large law firms seem reluctant to get involved in this situation. This is because SK Group, the second-highest ranking company in the business world, could be looked down on for representing the victims. In the case of large law firms, their main clients are corporations, and they are reluctant to handle sensitive lawsuits.

Even within the legal community, there is much skepticism about the possibility of winning a class action lawsuit. SKT's negligence and causal relationship must be proven, but some say it is not easy to gather technical evidence for secondary damage.

Representative lawyer Yeo Sang-won (Training Institute's 17th class), head of the Special Division 1, said, “There is a lot of pressure, such as whether it is a lawsuit where you can only receive a few hundred thousand won at most, or you will definitely lose,” and emphasized, “However, this lawsuit goes beyond simply redressing individual rights, and can be said to be a public interest lawsuit to protect the people's right to personal information.” He said, “The reason we stand against the perception that accusations and lawsuits are like hitting a rock with an egg is to put the brakes on a structure in which citizens’ rights are treated more lightly than corporate profits.”

Regarding the amount of alimony, we analyzed it by comparing it with existing similar cases. Attorney Yeo said, "In cases where personal information has been leaked from banks, etc., the courts have generally recognized compensation in the range of 100,000 to 300,000 won. However, this case occurred because the telecommunication service provider failed to safely manage SIM card information in the current situation where mobile phones are used as a means of identity authentication. Therefore, we have decided to proceed with the lawsuit by holding liability more strictly than in past cases and setting the compensation amount at 1 million won per person."

He continued, “Since the accident occurred within the scope of the other party’s control, it is difficult for SKT to prove that it was not at fault, so we expect the conclusion of the trial to be favorable to our side.”

In the case of criminal punishment, it is difficult to make specific predictions because the level may vary depending on the police investigation and the Personal Information Protection Committee's investigation. Attorney Cho Young-gon said, “We requested that SKT conduct a strict investigation in the public interest into its intentional cost reduction for all information protection measures and its poor response in the reporting process to the Korea Internet & Security Agency,” adding, “There will be differences depending on the application of criminal liability and gross negligence.”

Overseas, there is a trend to clarify responsibility for personal information leaks. We are strictly controlling illegal activities by companies by imposing fines amounting to hundreds of billions of won and punitive damages that are heavier than the actual damages received. In fact, T-Mobile, one of the three largest telecommunications companies in the United States, also leaked the personal information of 77.6 million people through hacking in 2021. At the time, it decided to compensate about 459 billion won as a settlement, and affected customers received compensation of up to about 32 million won depending on the amount of damage.

Attorney Cho emphasized, "Overseas, there are many cases where large law firms hold companies responsible through consumer class action lawsuits. We are actively working to ensure that consumers' right to choose, right to know, right to safety, etc. are all guaranteed. We have not even tried, but if we do not spare any legal assistance for victims like in the overseas cases, we have a good chance of winning. We will be able to overturn the public opinion that it is an 'unwinnable fight.'"

Attorney Cho also added, "No matter what form of criticism or pressure there is, I will stand solely on the side of the victims, the people. As a representative of the people, I will not give up and fight the lawsuit without giving up until the end," adding, "Daeryun will fulfill its obligations as a large law firm and fulfill its social responsibility to prevent such problems from occurring again."

Reporter Park Jae-gwan (paksunbi@fnnews.com)

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“Only among large law firms taking the lead in SKT litigation… due to public demand and mission” (Shortcut)