Ex-Incheon official accused of election law violation over contact list use

A former Incheon city official is facing accusations of violating personal information protection laws after allegedly using a contact list from a citizen's group to promote a political candidate. The complaint was filed by a former member of the Citizen's Pledge Fulfillment Inspection Group.

The accused, identified as Mr. Baek, reportedly sent KakaoTalk messages to former members of the inspection group, including the accuser, Mr. Lee, expressing support for Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok. Baek had previously worked in a department related to the inspection group before retiring and later taking a position at the Incheon Elderly Welfare Center, eventually working for Yoo's election campaign.

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Baek and I had no private exchanges or friendships. It is problematic in terms of personal information protection for a public official to use personal information they acquired for election campaigning.

Mr. Lee stated that he had no personal relationship with Baek and that the use of personal information obtained during official duties for election campaigning is problematic. He emphasized that using private contact information for non-official purposes constitutes a violation of the Personal Information Protection Act.

Baek, in his defense, admitted to sending messages to numbers saved on his phone while campaigning after his retirement, stating he did not deeply consider how he obtained the phone numbers. Legal experts suggest that if the contact information was obtained through official duties and used for purposes other than those duties, it could be a violation of the law, unless there was a pre-existing personal relationship.

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After retiring, I sent messages to numbers saved on my phone while campaigning. I didn't think deeply about how I obtained the phone.