567 KB Card Data Breach Victims Lose Again in 2nd Trial... Unable to Overcome Statute of Limitations Argument

Seoul Central District Court. / Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Victims of the 2013 KB Kookmin Card personal information leak case lost again in the appellate court, failing to overturn the card company's argument that "the statute of limitations has expired."

According to the court on the 23rd, the Civil Division 6-3 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Choi Jungin) recently ruled against the plaintiffs, 567 victims including Mr. Han, in the damages claim lawsuit filed against KB Kookmin Card in the appellate trial, just as in the first trial. The court also ordered the plaintiffs, the victims, to bear the litigation costs.

The victims argued in the appellate trial that "we recognized the damage in 2019 and filed the lawsuit the following year. The statute of limitations has not expired." They pointed to the date listed as 2019 in the advertisement section on the right side of the 'Check Personal Information Leak Status' screen provided on the KB Kookmin Card homepage, claiming that it was only then that they became aware of the damage.

However, the court stated, "It is recognized that the defendant has provided individual data on whether customers' personal information was leaked on the homepage since January 2014," and added, "The advertisement section is a separate matter and appears to be content that is updated frequently depending on the time of access to the screen."

The victims also claimed that "there was a limitation on this claim because a judgment was made in which about 80 KT subscribers lost a damages claim lawsuit due to personal information leakage in 2018."

Regarding this, the court dismissed the claim, stating, "Even if there were cases where victims' claims were dismissed in some related cases at that time, it cannot be viewed differently."

Previously, at KB Kookmin Card, personal information of 53.78 million members was leaked in February and June 2013, resulting in 222,561 victims. Prosecutorial investigation revealed that Park, the general manager of KCB responsible for developing the card company's accident analysis system, extracted customer information from the card company's business computer and handed it over to a marketing company. Park was sentenced to three years in prison.

Subsequently, the victims filed lawsuits in groups, claiming that "Kookmin Card neglected its duty of care to prevent leaks by not encrypting customer information." The lawsuit filed by 567 people including Mr. Han was part of this.

In January 2016, a ruling ordered compensation of 100,000 won per person to 5,202 victims of information leaks including KB Kookmin Card, Nonghyup, and Lotte Card, and most victims of this information leak case filed lawsuits between 2014 and 2015, with compensation rulings confirmed by the Supreme Court.

However, Mr. Han and others filed lawsuits late after the statute of limitations had expired, causing issues. Damages lawsuits must be filed within three years from the date the victim becomes aware of the damage. The first trial judged that the plaintiffs, including Mr. Han, likely recognized the fact that their personal information was leaked and damage occurred by January 2016, based on the first related ruling issued in 2016.

The first trial court stated, "(The victims who filed the lawsuit in 2020) did not file the lawsuit within the period in which they could exercise their rights," and ruled, "KB Kookmin Card's statute of limitations defense is valid, and the victims' claims are groundless and are all dismissed."

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