Customs Officials Revealed To Have Leaked Private Information Of Public Figures Including Song Hye Kyo

It has been revealed that private information of public figures has been leaked by customs officials.

On December 1, SBS reported, “We recently obtained customs declaration documents and photos of public figures from a whistleblower. From what we are aware, the documents were leaked by a customs official identified as Mr. Kim and his co-workers who were working at Incheon International Airport and Gimpo Airport at the time.” Mr. Kim is known to have undergone investigations for matters related to employee corruption at the Korea Customs Service in August.

According to the report, public figures who have had their private information include soccer player and television personality Ahn Jung Hwan, actress Song Hye Kyo, executive vice chairman of Hyundai Motor Company Jeong Ui Seon, singer Kim Tae Won, former member of the Japanese national soccer team Hidetoshi Nakata, and Korean Japanese pianist Yang Bang Ean.

The documents that were leaked were from 2011 to 2015, and were customs declaration forms that were submitted upon arrival in Korea. The documents included private information such as passport number, date of birth, phone number, and home address.

Customs declaration forms are supposed to be discarded by the relevant department one month after they are collected. The Korea Customs Service states that leaking such customs declaration forms is a violation of Clause 116 of the Customs Law pertaining to confidentiality of taxation information, as well as a violation of the Personal Information Protection Act and Clause 127 of criminal law pertaining to divulgence of classified information, and can result in a maximum of five years in prison.

SBS reported that the Korea Customs Service stated, “We will investigate this matter and punish the involved employees according to the penal regulations.”

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