DaedongUSA, the U.S. subsidiary of Daedong, Korea's No. 1 agricultural machinery company, is in a legal dispute in the United States over a personal information leak. A former employee who worked at DaedongUSA raised an issue, saying personal information including theirs was leaked. DaedongUSA countered that there was no actual damage.
According to ChosunBiz reporting compiled on the 25th, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina held a hearing on the 18th on DaedongUSA's motion to dismiss in a lawsuit filed by a person identified as A over a "personal information leak." DaedongUSA argued for dismissal, saying "A's cause of action is insufficient," and the court has not yet ruled.
The case surfaced in Feb. A, a former employee of Daedong USA, filed a lawsuit in Wake County Court, North Carolina, saying DaedongUSA suffered a cyberattack that leaked names, contact information, dates of birth, bank account and card numbers, and medical and health information.
In the complaint, A also wrote that DaedongUSA failed to comply with the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and estimated the size of the victim group at 1.7 million. A's attorney later amended the complaint to reduce the victim group to 10,643.
Daedong established its North American subsidiary DaedongUSA in 1993 and has focused its business on the United States and Canada. Its export brand name is "KIOTI." Starting with tractors, it expanded sales to utility vehicles and compact construction equipment, increasing its market share. As of the first half of this year, exports accounted for 78.1% of Daedong's total sales, with North America making up about half of that.
After the lawsuit was filed, DaedongUSA submitted papers to the court in Apr. asking to transfer the case from state court to federal court. Once moved to federal court, the case was categorized for mediation.
Federal courts, which are a level above state courts, are known to scrutinize plaintiffs' "claims of harm" strictly in data breach cases involving personal information. If there is no tangible harm, the claims are not accepted. The court also expressed the view that it does not agree that A and the group estimated as victims actually suffered damages.
Some see this as a strategy leveraging the characteristics of U.S. trials that use juries. Federal courts have a relatively rigorous jury selection process and handle many cases involving corporations. There is a greater chance that a claim that "personal information was leaked" will not be accepted in federal court.
In addition to A, two more people filed lawsuits over the personal information leak. When similar cases were filed, the federal court consolidated them in Jun. The presiding judge also changed in Oct. DaedongUSA's position is that "there is no legal liability because no actual harm occurred."
A legal industry source said, "Typically, a judge reviews both sides' arguments and all submitted documents before issuing a written decision," and added, "Personal information leak cases often take longer for a decision to come out."
A Daedong official said, "As the lawsuit is ongoing, it is difficult to comment on the current matter," but added, "We are strengthening investments in security to prevent a recurrence of such incidents in the future."
The official added, "In the initial complaint, the size of the victim group was written as 1.7 million due to an error by the plaintiff's attorney, but the error was later acknowledged and the number was revised to 10,643."