The Science. ICT. Broadcasting. and Communications Committee (Science, ICT, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee) will summon the heads of the three domestic mobile carriers (SK Telecom, KT, LG Uplus) as witnesses for the National Assembly audit that begins on the 13th. This year's audit will focus on large-scale hacking and information security, which have recently stirred controversy, as key agenda items for intensive questioning.
According to the National Assembly and the information and communications technology (ICT) industry on the 12th, the Science, ICT, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee has selected 92 witnesses and 42 reference witnesses for this audit. The first audit will be held on the 13th at the Sejong Government Complex, targeting the Ministry of Science and ICT.
The Science, ICT, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee plans to make the recent series of communications and network disruptions and security incidents the main focus of questioning and to intensively examine the causes of damage and measures to prevent a recurrence.
For the audit to be held on the 21st, Ryu Young-sang, president of SK Telecom, Kim Young-shub, president of KT, and Hong Beom-sik, president of LG Uplus, have all been selected as witnesses. The committee plans to scrutinize in detail each carrier's response to security incidents and the adequacy of their internal control systems.
SK Telecom suffered a large-scale hacking incident in April this year in which information on 23 million customers was leaked, and KT also experienced unauthorized small-amount payment incidents in August this year, exposing security management loopholes such as the management of micro base stations. A subsequent full inspection of servers by an external specialized firm found indications of intrusion on some servers.
LG Uplus was also embroiled in a hacking controversy. The U.S. security journal Frack recently published a report stating that there were confirmed indications that domestic telecom operators, including KT and LG Uplus, and government agencies had been hacked. In response, LG Uplus said that "no indications of hacking were confirmed, and there was no information leak."
The committee will also verify whether the process of appointing KT's president was fair. Kim Young-shub has been asked to appear as a witness twice, on the 14th and the 21st. However, because Kim is also on the witness list for the National Policy Committee's audit on the 14th, coordination of schedules between standing committees is necessary.
To determine whether there was external pressure or political interference in the process of replacing KT's president, the committee also selected former CEO Koo Hyun-mo and Yoon Kyung-lim, then a KT division head and a candidate for president, as witnesses.
However, it has not yet been finalized whether the heads of the three mobile carriers will actually appear at the audit.
This year's audit by the Science, ICT, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee comes after a series of hacking and service disruptions. Through this audit, the committee plans to inspect information protection systems across the private and public sector as a whole, as government network paralysis and credit card company data leaks occurred in succession in addition to the carriers' hacking agenda.
Senior officials from global big tech companies will also take the stand. Regarding harmful advertising on YouTube, Google will have Wilson White, vice president and head of public policy for Asia-Pacific, Lee Sang-hyun, global director of platform policy at Google Korea, and Hwang Seong-hye, vice president of Google Korea, summoned. From Apple, Mark Lee, president of Apple Korea, is expected to face questions over App Store fees and alleged reverse discrimination in in-app payments.