Samsung Union Leader Sent to Prosecutors

The leader of the Samsung Electronics branch of the Samsung Group United Union, Choi Seung-ho, and union executive A are to be investigated by prosecutors. They are suspected of amassing personal data on around 100,000 Samsung Electronics employees to generate a "union blacklist." This investigation was initiated on September 4, following a request by the Gyeonggi Hwaseong Dongtan Police Station.

Choi and A are believed to have accessed a file containing employee information around the time of a general strike in March. A, who was responsible for internal system tasks, allegedly extracted the data illicitly and gave it to the union. Samsung Electronics learned about this through their abnormal traffic detection system, which showed A had accessed employee data about 20,000 times in roughly an hour.

Following this, Samsung Electronics filed a criminal complaint with the police. The investigation focuses on Choi's past statements on YouTube, where he mentioned managing a list of those not participating in the strike. This led the police to believe Choi played a significant role in creating the blacklist.

During the investigation, additional police actions were taken against four other employees who had irregularly accessed the internal system. They were suspected of using personal data to check their own union membership status. However, it was determined that these employees merely accessed the information out of curiosity and did not distribute or systematically use the list.

Labor and management at Samsung Electronics had reached a tentative wage agreement in May and promised to drop both civil and criminal complaints related to the blacklist allegations. Choi stated that he would continue to respond to the situation, citing the company's letter of non-punishment for leniency on May 27. However, no such letter has been received by the police.

The Personal Information Protection Act allows prosecution regardless of the perpetrator's intent, so the suspects are likely to face judicial processing even if a complaint withdrawal is confirmed.