RM, a member of the globally renowned K-pop group BTS (image: Big Hit Entertainment)
SEOUL, Dec. 25 (Korea Bizwire) –An employee of the Korea Railroad Corporation (Korail), identified only as Mr. A, who was previously dismissed for unauthorized access to the personal information of RM, a member of the globally renowned K-pop group BTS, has been reinstated following a review.
On December 22, it was revealed through documents obtained by the office of Kim Doo-kwan, a member of the Democratic Party, from the Korean National Railway, that the Central Labor Commission had ordered Mr. A’s reinstatement on November 14.
The Commission also directed that he be paid wages he would have earned had he not been fired.
Mr. A, who was responsible for information technology (IT) development at Korail, was found to have accessed RM’s personal information, including ticket booking details, multiple times over three years starting in 2019.
He was also discovered to have accessed personal information of other employees without authorization.
It came to light that Mr. A had not only secretly viewed RM’s information but had also boasted to acquaintances about seeing RM in person after checking his reservation details.
A colleague who heard such claims reported the matter, leading to an audit. In March of this year, Korail decided to dismiss Mr. A for violating his duty to maintain dignity.
However, Mr. A appealed for a review. While the first review upheld the dismissal, citing the gravity of his misconduct and its intentional nature, the decision was overturned by the Central Labor Commission.
The Commission ruled that Korail had used the widespread media coverage of RM’s personal information being accessed without authorization as a basis for dismissal, suggesting that it was more about RM’s fame than Mr. A’s misconduct.
They also noted that Korail had never dismissed employees in other cases of personal information protection law violation, concluding that Mr. A’s dismissal was disproportionate.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
