Prime Ministerial nominee Han Seong-sook [Photo = Yonhap News]

Prime Ministerial nominee Han Seong-sook has been reported to the police over allegations involving the approval of stock compensation during her tenure as CEO of Naver, as well as negligence in responding to a personal data breach during her time as Minister of SMEs and Startups.

The civic group, Citizens' Coalition for People's Livelihood (CCPL), announced on the 24th that it had filed a complaint with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency against nominee Han, accusing her of professional malpractice, abuse of power, and dereliction of duty.

In its complaint, the CCPL took issue with Han's conduct while serving as CEO of Naver. The group argued, "Ha Jung-woo, former Presidential Secretary for AI Future Strategy, received stock compensation while acting as an advisor for a competitor in the past," and added, "The act of approving this by nominee Han, who was the CEO of Naver at the time, constitutes professional malpractice that caused losses to the company and its shareholders."

Furthermore, the CCPL pointed out that nominee Han demonstrated serious dereliction of duty regarding her response to a large-scale personal data breach that occurred during the "Everyone's Startup" project managed by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups during her term as minister.

Previously, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' "Everyone's Startup" project experienced a breach where the data of 5,000 initial applicants—including email addresses, summaries of startup ideas, and evaluation comments—was leaked to external parties.

Regarding this, the CCPL stated the reasons for their complaint, noting, "Nominee Han did not report the breach to the Personal Information Protection Commission until over 70 hours after she became aware of it," and added, "Follow-up measures were inadequate, such as failing to provide sufficient public notification regarding the damage caused by the leak."

Kim Soon-hwan, Secretary-General of the CCPL, emphasized, "As a candidate for Prime Minister, a position of heavy responsibility in state affairs, serious disqualifying factors regarding morality and accountability have been revealed," adding, "If criminal facts are confirmed through a prompt and thorough investigation, she must be strictly punished, regardless of her status."

CCPL Donation Account: Korea Post 010108-01-014472 

Account Holder: Citizens' Coalition for People's Livelihood

Reporter Lim Yo-hee