Korea to introduce strengthened penalties for large-scale data leaks

Korea will introduce strengthened penalties this week for companies that suffer personal information leaks affecting more than 10 million people, the privacy watchdog said Thursday.

The move comes as Seoul has sought to strengthen protection of personal information in the wake of high-profile cases, including e-commerce operator Coupang's data breach that affected more than 37 million users.

Under the revised personal information protection law set to take effect Friday, companies that suffer such large-scale leaks due to intentional misconduct or gross negligence can be punished with a penalty of up to 10 percent of their sales, according to the Personal Information Protection Commission.

Companies that repeatedly violate personal information laws within three years or those that suffer data leaks by failing to follow corrective orders are also subject to punishment.

Before the revision, companies were subject to a penalty of up to 3 percent of sales.

The watchdog, however, noted that it could reduce up to 40 percent of the penalty by taking into account the level of investment companies made in personal information protection and other safety measures.

Yonhap