[E-Daily Reporter Kim Hyun-ah ] The National Assembly’s Science, Technology, Information, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee has added the president of Google Korea and the CEO of LG Uplus(032640) as witnesses for its parliamentary audit. The committee is expected to focus on allegations that evidence was tampered with during LG Uplus’s response to a personal information breach, as well as allegations of external pressure during the sale of YTN under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration.

At its plenary session on the 15th, the Science, ICT, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee passed a resolution summoning five witnesses and three reference persons to appear at the parliamentary audit. Yoon Gu, President of Google Korea; Shin Chang-seop, CEO of X (formerly Twitter) Korea; and Heo Wook, Vice President of Meta Korea, are scheduled to appear on the 22nd, while Hong Beom-sik, CEO of LG Uplus, and Hong Kwan-hee, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) of LG Uplus, are scheduled to appear on the 23rd.

It is expected that President Yoon and CEO Shin will be questioned about responses to digital sex crimes, while Vice President Heo and LG Uplus officials will be questioned about personal information breaches and follow-up measures, respectively.

In particular, LG Uplus is facing allegations that it destroyed evidence or obstructed the investigation during its response to the data breach. According to the government investigation, after being notified by the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) in July of last year of indications of a data leak, LG Uplus disposed of servers suspected of being compromised and reinstalled the operating systems (OS) on the relevant servers. The data breach was not reported until October—approximately three months after the initial notification.

The joint public-private investigation team confirmed the external leakage of server lists, account information, and employee names, but was unable to verify the details of the breach or whether customer information had been leaked. The Ministry of Science and ICT and the Personal Information Protection Commission have referred the allegations of evidence destruction and obstruction of the investigation to the police for investigation on charges of obstruction of official duties through fraud.

The Science, ICT, and Broadcasting Committee also added Lee Gwan-seop, former Chief of Staff to the President, as a witness. The Democratic Party of Korea demanded his appearance as a witness, arguing that it was necessary to determine whether external pressure had been exerted during the sale of YTN under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration, and the motion was passed following a vote led by the ruling party.

The People Power Party objected. Rep. Choi Hyung-doo, the opposition floor leader, argued that since the matter was mentioned in the Board of Audit and Inspection’s audit report and other documents, the truth should be uncovered through an audit and follow-up measures. Han Jun-ho, the Democratic Party’s floor leader, countered that it is a legitimate demand to question responsible individuals about the allegations in a standing committee.

Members of the People Power Party on the Science and ICT Committee issued a statement criticizing the Democratic Party for forcing through the designation of former Director Lee as a witness by leveraging its majority status. They pointed out that the Democratic Party had opposed the designation of former Korea Communications Commission Chairman Han Sang-hyuk—who was indicted on charges of improperly intervening in TV Chosun’s re-licensing review during the Moon Jae-in administration—as a witness, asserting, “Parliamentary oversight hearings are not political tribunals where witnesses are selected to suit the administration’s preferences.”

Some have pointed out that it would be inappropriate to call former Chairman Han as a witness for the parliamentary audit, as the first-instance verdict in his trial is scheduled for November 12. Three individuals were selected as reference witnesses: Kim Jin-soo, a senior research fellow at the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology; Lee Hae-guk, a professor at the Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine; and Choi Kyung-jin, president of the Korean Artificial Intelligence Law Association.