South Korean party confirms data leak of 17,000 members

The Democratic Party of South Korea is facing scrutiny after a data breach exposed the personal information of more than 17,000 members. The leak, which occurred on the party's 'Blue Wave' online community platform, involved member IDs, names, and encrypted passwords. The incident is believed to have taken place around September of the previous year.

Cho Seung-rae, who served as the party's secretary-general at the time of the breach, expressed deep responsibility and offered a sincere apology. He explained that upon suspecting unusual activity on the website, his office requested an inspection from the website management company, which reported no anomalies. Further requests for security vulnerability support from the Korea Internet & Security Agency were denied at the time, citing ongoing personal information leaks from major companies like KT and Lotte Card.

The party only became aware of the breach on August 6, nearly 11 months after the suspected leak. Following the discovery, acting party leader Han Byung-do ordered immediate security measures to prevent further damage and a comprehensive review of all internal systems. The delay in detection and response has drawn criticism from within the party.

Rival party leadership candidates have voiced concerns. Kim Min-seok, a contender for party leadership, stated that "management incompetence must be corrected." His supporter, Rep. Lee Yong-woo, emphasized the need for "immediate fact-finding, accountability, and prevention" regarding the data leak, urging the party to remember its past handling of such incidents.