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The loss of customer data at GS Caltex, Korea's second largest refinery, was potentially the largest leakage of personal information in Korea to date. DVDs containing residence registration numbers, home addresses, and phone numbers of a total of 11.25 million GS Caltex customers, including senior political and government figures, were reported to have been found in a district of bars and restaurants in the upscale Gangnam area in Seoul.
The Cyber Terror Response Center of the National Police Agency on Sunday sought arrest warrants for three people, Chung (28), an employee of GS Nextation, a GS Caltex subsidiary, Wang (28), Chung's alleged accomplice and high school classmate, and Kim (24), an acquaintance of Wang's. According to police, Chung was handling the customer database at Nextation, which operates the Caltex call center.
Police say it was an accomplice of Chung's who told a newspaper he ˇ°foundˇ± the DVDs in a back alley in Gangnam.
Police quoted Chung as saying he hoped to make a lot of money because he believed the value of the personal data would increase if a massive class action is filed against the conglomerate, as in a similar case earlier this year where personal information of customers of large internet shopping malls had been leaked. He admitted he planned to blackmail the company.
Police have received five DVDs the suspects distributed to some newspapers and are investigating whether the personal data had been leaked to anyone else and whether there are other accomplices.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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