Government Official Booked for Posting 'Baksa Bang' Personal Information Leak Victims List on Website

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] The police have launched a full-scale investigation into the public officials who disclosed the list of potential victims of the Telegram 'Baksa Room' case on the website of the Wirye-dong Community Service Center in Songpa-gu, Seoul.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Intelligent Crime Investigation Unit announced on the 17th that they have booked two public officials affiliated with Songpa District Office on charges including violation of the Personal Information Protection Act and are investigating them as suspects.

The community service center posted on its website some personal information of about 200 victims, presumed to have been leaked by Choi Mo (26), a former social service worker who handed over personal information to the Baksa Room operator Jo Joo-bin (24) on the 6th. The reason was to ask people who saw the information and thought it was their own personal data to contact the community center to check whether their personal information had been leaked.

However, concerns were raised that excessive exposure of information, including two-character names, birth years, gender, and whereabouts, could cause secondary damage. The police have been conducting a preliminary investigation into this case since the 14th.

A police official stated, "The public officials in charge are suspected of leaking personally identifiable information beyond their authorized scope," adding, "We will continue to strictly prosecute any secondary harm caused by directly or indirectly disclosing the identities of victims related to the Baksa Room case without leniency."

Meanwhile, the police have additionally identified about 10 members who paid money and participated as paid members of the Baksa Room. So far, the police have confirmed the personal information of about 40 individuals and are continuing their investigation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.