SEOUL, September 18 (AJP) - South Korea’s Lotte Card said Thursday that nearly one-third of its customers were affected by a major data breach stemming from a hacking attack in August.
At a press conference in Seoul, CEO Cho Jwa-jin confirmed that the personal information of 2.97 million members was compromised in the Aug. 14 incident. “We sincerely apologize to our customers and relevant authorities for causing great concern,” Cho said.
The leaked data was tied to online payment systems and, for about 280,000 customers, included sensitive details such as card numbers, expiration dates and CVC codes that could be exploited for fraud. Lotte Card said these customers will receive priority reissuance of their cards.
For the remaining 2.69 million customers, only partial information was exposed, which the company said cannot be used alone to commit fraudulent transactions. Cho added that no customer names were leaked and that offline payment systems were unaffected.
Lotte Card, the country’s fifth-largest card issuer with roughly 9.6 million members, has pledged to fully compensate victims.
“Lotte Card will take full responsibility and reimburse all damages caused by this incident,” Cho said, promising to cover any secondary losses if they are confirmed to be linked to the breach.
The company had initially reported to regulators on Sept. 1 that 1.7 gigabytes of data had been stolen. However, a subsequent investigation revealed the scale of the breach was far greater. Lotte Card also acknowledged that although the attack occurred on Aug. 14, but it began its probe at the end of the month.
Meanwhile, private equity firm MBK Partners, the largest shareholder of Lotte Card, is facing criticism for allegedly prioritizing profit maximization over security investments as it seeks to sell the card company.
MBK acquired an 80 percent stake in Lotte Card in 2019 for 1.38 trillion won ($1 billion). In 2022, it attempted to offload the stake for 3 trillion won, but the deal fell through. MBK lowered its asking price to 2 trillion won in May this year, yet no bidders have come forward.
The company’s difficulties in securing a buyer have been compounded by scrutiny from regulators and prosecutors. MBK is under simultaneous investigation by financial authorities and law enforcement over its responsibility for a financial crisis at retail chain Homeplus, in which it holds a controlling stake.
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