In connection with allegations that a Samsung Electronics union created a "blacklist of nonunion members," police moved to obtain records of a union member's internal messenger and email. After seizing and searching servers at Samsung Electronics' Giheung campus and securing access logs, police appear to be expanding the probe to determine whether a specific employee was involved.
According to the legal community on the 20th, the Hwaseong Dongtan Police Station executed a search and seizure warrant on the 18th for servers to obtain the internal messenger and email records of a union member, identified only as A, who works at Samsung Electronics' Pyeongtaek campus.
The case began after the company confirmed that an Excel file containing employees' names, phone numbers, employee numbers, and union membership status had been shared in a group chat room of a specific Samsung Electronics department. Viewing the document as a so-called "blacklist" that included union membership status, Samsung Electronics filed a police complaint on Apr. 9 against an unidentified individual on suspicion of violating the Personal Information Protection Act.
After it was additionally confirmed that a specific employee had looked up employees' personal information on an internal work site, Samsung Electronics filed an additional complaint on Apr. 16 against that employee on suspicion of violating the Personal Information Protection Act.
After opening an investigation, police on May 8 executed a search and seizure warrant for servers that manage the internal work site at Samsung Electronics' Giheung campus. During this process, police reportedly secured multiple IP addresses with abnormal access logs.
This search and seizure appears aimed at confirming whether A was involved, based on access logs obtained at the Giheung campus. A police official said, "We cannot confirm details as we are currently investigating."
Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics labor and management held a third post-mediation meeting at the Central Labor Relations Commission at the Government Complex Sejong at 10 a.m. the same day but failed to reach an agreement. With mediation breaking down, the union says it will begin a general strike starting on the 21st.