Nevertheless, around March 7, 2012, the Defendant, in collusion with D, posted an advertisement stating that “personal information (DB) is “pop-up” on the Internet Blob in collusion with D, and received 400,000 won in return for the communication of personal information (DB) including the name, address, resident registration number, address, contact address, etc. from E, a credit service provider, who contacted with D, was sent to E by e-mail and divulged it.

2. Determination:

A. Article 49 (hereinafter “Information and Communications Network Act”) of the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, Etc. (hereinafter “Information and Communications Network Act”) provides that “no person shall damage another person’s information processed, stored, or transmitted through an information and communications network, or infringe, use, or divulge another person’s secret.” Meanwhile, Article 71 Subparag. 11 of the same Act provides that “a person who damages another person’s information, infringes, uses, or divulges another person’s secret in violation of Article 49” shall be punished by imprisonment with labor for not more than five years or by a fine not exceeding 50 million won.

“Leakage of secrets of another person processed, stored, or transmitted through an information and communications network” under the provision of this case does not mean all the divulgence of secrets of another person, but it is reasonable to interpret that a person who acquired another person’s secrets processed, stored, or transmitted through an information and communications network by unlawful means or methods, such as intrusion on an information and communications network, or a person who knows that such secrets have been acquired by the above methods is limited to the act of informing another person who has no knowledge of such secrets.

Supreme Court Decision 2010Do10576 Decided December 13, 2012