[2022 National Assembly Audit] SK Chairman Chey Tae-won Submits Excuse for Absence from Audit

Submission of Absence Statement for Witness Appearance Request at the Science and ICT Committee Hearing on the 24th... Impact of Japan Forum and Busan Expo

Chairman Chey Tae-won of SK Group [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] Regarding the Kakao service disruption caused by the fire at the SK C&C data center in Pangyo, SK Chairman Chey Tae-won, who was notified to appear as a witness at the National Assembly audit on the 24th, has submitted a letter of absence. The reasons cited include increased management uncertainty, a scheduling conflict with SK Group’s Japan Forum, and concerns over a decline in external trust related to the Busan Expo bid.

According to the National Assembly on the 22nd, Chairman Chey Tae-won submitted a letter of absence for the witness appearance at the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee’s audit the day before.

Chairman Chey first stated, “I deeply regret and apologize for the great inconvenience caused to many citizens due to this incident, as well as the damages suffered by related service consumers and small and medium-sized business owners. SK Group will actively cooperate with the related investigation to clearly identify the cause of the accident and will do its utmost to ensure there is no negligence in preventing recurrence and in follow-up measures.”

The reason for absence disclosed by Chairman Chey is the uncertainty in corporate management caused by prolonged inflation after the pandemic, the Ukraine war, supply chain restructuring, and climate variables. Since August, SK Group has been planning and preparing the Japan Forum scheduled for the 24th to rebuild Korea-Japan private economic cooperation and respond to the global supply chain crisis. Chairman Chey also invited many Japanese politicians, professors, and economic experts who understand Korea.

Chairman Chey said, “If I do not participate in an event that I personally planned and invited foreign guests to, it would be a great discourtesy. Please understand that this could diminish the purpose and sincerity of the forum and negatively affect the hard-earned opportunity to rebuild Korea-Japan private economic cooperation.”

Furthermore, Chairman Chey expressed caution about the negative perception that could arise from his witness appearance while serving as the private chairman for the Busan Expo bid. He is in charge of overseeing the competitive presentation at the 3rd General Assembly of the International Bureau of Expositions (BIE) to be held in Paris, France, on November 28-29.

Since the main inquiry will be about the Pangyo data center fire incident, SK plans to have SK Vice Chairman Jang Dong-hyun attend for matters requiring SK’s representation, along with SK C&C CEO Park Sung-ha, who has expertise in IT technology and operational know-how.

Meanwhile, on the 17th, Jeong Cheong-rae, chairman of the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Committee, passed a resolution after consultation between ruling and opposition party secretaries at the plenary session, demanding the appearance of witnesses including SK Chairman Chey Tae-won, Kakao Chairman Kim Beom-su, Naver GIO Lee Hae-jin, SK C&C CEO Park Sung-ha, Kakao CEO Hong Eun-taek, and Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon at the committee’s final audit on the 24th.

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