Jun Ji-hye, a reporter at the finance desk of The Korea Times, focuses primarily on economic policy and government agencies, mainly covering the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Budget and Planning, the National Tax Service and the Korea Customs Service. She previously covered financial authorities, including the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, and earlier worked on the political, city and business desks, reporting on a wide range of issues.
Korea University staffer accused of data breach, sexual harassment
Korea University / Korea Times file
By Jun Ji-hye
By Jun Ji-hye
Police have booked a staff member of Korea University for accessing personal data of dozens of international students at the college in order to sexually harass them, according to police and school officials Monday.
Seoul Seongbuk Police Station said its officials are investigating the Personal Information Protection Act violation by the staff member, identified by only by his last name Park, who has worked at the global service center of the university since March 16.
Park allegedly sent text messages on Kakao Talk to about 40 Chinese students at the university, saying things such as “I fell in love with you at first sight,” “I want to learn more about you,” and “I am a good guy.”
He began sending such messages from his first day on the job.
When several students asked about how he got their contact details, he responded, “I was lucky,” or “I saw it on the school website.”
Students who received the messages made a report to the school with the assistance of a student organization.
The university reported the incidents to the police, March 20, and is initiating procedures to cancel the employment contract with Park.
“We gave the employee written notice of cancellation of the employment contract,” a Korea University official said.
The university is working to survey the entire international student body to determine if there have been other victims.
A police official said, “We are investigating how the students' personal information was leaked and the scale of the leakage.”