MBK Partners Chair Kim Byung-ju was selected as a witness for the National Assembly Science. ICT. Broadcasting. and Communications Committee hearing on the 21st but will not attend. Kim also did not appear at the committee's hearing on the massive KT and Lotte Card hacking incidents on the 24th of last month.

MBK Partners chairman Kim Byung-ju appears as a witness at a National Policy Committee parliamentary audit at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the 14th afternoon and answers questions. /Courtesy of News1

According to political circles and the investment banking (IB) industry on the 21st, Kim submitted a statement of nonattendance to the Science. ICT. Broadcasting. and Communications Committee. With Kim absent, MBK Partners CEO Kim Kwang-il will attend instead. MBK Partners, a private equity fund (PEF) manager, is the largest shareholder of Lotte Card.

At 10 a.m. that day, the Science. ICT. Broadcasting. and Communications Committee will conduct a parliamentary inspection at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, targeting hacking-related agencies: the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA), the Korea Communications Agency (KCA), the National Information Society Agency (NIA), and the Korea Data Agency. The committee requested Kim and CEO Kim as witnesses to ask about the Lotte Card hacking, the sale of Homeplus branches, and the reauthorization of the troubled D'Live.

Kim appeared as a witness at the National Assembly National Policy Committee's audit on the 14th. It was Kim's first appearance after declining prior National Assembly requests citing overseas schedules. That day, Kim said, "I apologize for causing public concern," and added, "I will fulfill our social responsibility for Homeplus employees and stakeholders."

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