Hana Tour is set to stand trial for leaking information of hundreds of thousands of customers and exercising power trip on its business partner.
The Seoul District Prosecutor's Office said on June 19 that it has indicted a Hana Tour corporation and Mr. A, head of its headquarters without detention on charges of violating the Information and Communication Network Act.
Hana Tour is suspected of leaking the personal information of 460,000 customers and 30,000 executives and employees through hacking into its computer network.
According to the prosecution, Hana Tour had to take measures to use additional authentication means such as One Time Password (OTP), certificate, and security token in addition to ID or password when accessing the personal information processing system from outside the company, but failed to comply.
The prosecution plans to investigate and dispose of not only personal information leak offenders but also violations of the private information-handling company's obligation to take protective measures.
In addition to the leakage of personal information, Hana Tour was also sued for pulling the big power trip on its business partner.
Hana Tour reportedly did not pay proper ground expenses to its Hong Kong partner, who signed a contract from 2010 to last year.
"We are suffering from 700 million won in unpaid bills for eight years because Hana Tour did not pay for the package tours, including transportation fees and entrance fees to tourist sites," said a local partner. "After we asked for the settlement of the unpaid bill, Hana Tour reduced the number of tourists and canceled the contract."
As the controversy over the issue grew, Hana Tour CEO Kim Jin-kook said on June 18, "We have been trying to protect our management philosophy of co-existence with our partners, but some insufficient parts have been found. We will improve past problems and strengthen the management process."