The Korean Bar Association Calls for Accountable Measures and Adequate Compensation in the Wake of the SK Telecom Personal Data Breach, and Proposes Institutional Reforms Including the Introduction of Punitive DamagesOn April 19, 2025, at approximately 11:00 p.m., SK Telecom (hereinafter “SKT”) experienced a massive data breach involving the personal information of approximately 25 million subscribers due to a malicious malware attack. The compromised data includes sensitive information contained in users' USIM cards, which may be exploited for secondary crimes such as SIM-swapping and fraudulent phone activations. Despite the scale and severity of the incident, SKT reported the suspected breach to the Personal Information Protection Commission only on April 22, three days after the incident. The company announced plans to offer free USIM replacements to all subscribers.The Korean Bar Association expresses its deep concern over this incident. This is not a mere security mishap by a private entity it is a grave violation of the constitutional right to informational self-determination. The personal data retained by telecommunications providers is an essential part of citizens’ daily lives, and the implications of this breach must be regarded as a serious threat to national security and public trust.SKT’s response has also been significantly lacking. Public notice of the breach was delayed for several days, and the full scope and nature of the leaked information remain undisclosed. Moreover, rather than automatically providing protective measures to all users, such as USIM protection services, SKT is requiring individual applications, raising suspicions that the company may intend to limit compensation based on whether users were subscribed to such services at the time of the breach.The chaos is now spilling over into both government and society. The National Intelligence Service has recommended that 19 government ministries, 17 metropolitan governments, and local boards of education replace USIMs and conduct security checks. The Ministry of National Defense has issued a mandatory USIM replacement directive for military officers, and numerous companies have similarly urged their employees to take precautionary measures. Should this breach lead to secondary damages involving civil servants and corporate officials who handle sensitive information, the scope of harm could become incalculable.The repeated occurrence of corporate data breaches is largely due to the fact that the costs associated with maintaining and protecting personal information are significantly higher than the financial penalties companies typically face following such incidents. In contrast, in jurisdictions such as the United States and European Union, companies may be ordered to pay severe punitive damages, potentially threatening their viability, thereby incentivizing robust data protection measures.Given the importance of personal data, corporations must be held to a much higher standard of care. In particular, when a company fails to fulfill its duty to protect personal information, it should bear substantial liability in the form of punitive damages. Institutional frameworks with binding enforcement mechanisms are essential to prevent the recurrence of such large-scale data breaches.The Korean Bar Association strongly urges SKT to take full accountability and demands the government and National Assembly adopt fundamental solutions to prevent the recurrence of such incidents.First, SKT must immediately disclose all facts transparently and provide USIM protection services to all users without requiring separate applications. Beyond free USIM replacements, it must offer professional identity protection and credit monitoring services to all affected users for a minimum of five years. The company must also establish a reimbursement and compensation framework for users who have already borne the cost of USIM replacement and suffered additional financial losses.Second, the government must establish a joint investigative task force to thoroughly determine the cause, responsibility, and potential concealment surrounding the incident and disclose the results transparently. Security regulations for telecommunications providers must be strengthened to include mandatory external penetration testing at least twice a year akin to those in the financial sector and legislative measures requiring breach notification and reporting within 24 hours must be enacted.Third, the National Assembly must introduce a general punitive damages system and ease the requirements for class action lawsuits. Although certain statutes such as the Product Liability Act already include punitive damages provisions, the standards are overly restrictive, rendering the remedy largely ineffective. Legislative reform should reduce the burden of proof on victims and allow class actions in cases of personal data breaches, including provisions for damages up to five times the actual harm in cases involving secondary consequences.The Korean Bar Association reiterates its deep concern over the SKT data breach and urgently calls for prompt and transparent action. We further demand that the government and legislature immediately begin work to introduce institutional reforms, including a general punitive damages regime and a more accessible class action system. April 30, 2025Korean Bar AssociationJung Wook KIM, President

Korean Bar Association Expresses Strong Regret over Government’s Decision to Admit 1,744 New LawyersApril 25, 2025 | Seoul  The Korean Bar Association (KBA), led by President Jung-wook Kim, has issued a statement expressing deep regret over the Ministry of Justice’s decision to approve 1,744 successful candidates in the 14th National Bar Examination. While the KBA extended a warm welcome to the newly admitted members of the legal profession, it strongly criticized the process and rationale behind the government’s determination.Despite repeated warnings from the legal profession, the Ministry finalized the number of successful candidates on the very day of the announcement, following a mere two-and-a-half-hour meeting of the Bar Examination Management Committee on April 24. Of the 15 committee members, only three are practicing lawyers, and several members reportedly pushed for a figure exceeding 1,800, despite lacking direct knowledge of the legal services market.The KBA highlighted that South Korea already has an unusually high number of law-related license holders compared to global standards. Nevertheless, committee members advocating for an increased pass rate provided no reasonable justification. As a result, the concerns of frontline lawyers including the harmful impact of lawyer oversupply on both legal practitioners and the public went unheeded.“For years, we have urged the government to set the number of successful candidates at or below 1,200, based on objective data and a thorough understanding of the legal market,” the KBA stated. “This year’s decision once again ignored that appeal.”The KBA also pointed to structural issues in the composition of the committee, which it claims is incapable of fairly reflecting the legal profession’s needs. The Association emphasized that South Korea's approach to managing legal manpower stands in stark contrast to practices observed in comparable jurisdictions worldwide.Nonetheless, the KBA acknowledged a subtle shift in policy: despite a year-on-year increase in the number of applicants, this year’s number of successful candidates slightly declined marking the first such instance in recent years. The KBA interpreted this as a partial halt to the trend of unchecked annual increases.In its official statement, the Korean Bar Association (KBA) made five urgent demands to the government:1. Conduct a comprehensive study based on objective statistical data to determine the appropriate number of attorneys required in society.2. Gradually reduce and consolidate quasi-legal professions that overlap with the duties of attorneys.3. Abolish the current "vacancy replacement" system.4. Clearly announce the intended number of successful candidates in advance when publishing the annual bar examination schedule.5. Reform the composition of the Bar Examination Management Committee to ensure that it more accurately reflects the interests of the legal profession.The KBA reaffirmed its commitment to promoting a rational and sustainable legal services market in Korea and pledged to continue advocating for reforms aimed at normalizing the legal profession.April 10, 2025Korean Bar AssociationJung Wook KIM, President