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Controversy has arisen as D.CAMP (Banking Youth Startup Foundation), South Korea’s largest startup support foundation, conducted an audit targeting employees who cooperated with the investigation into misconduct allegations against Park Young-hoon Jeon (CEO), who resigned in July. While the stated purpose is to verify compliance with security rules, critics argue it constitutes a ‘retaliatory audit’ for actions that led to the CEO’s resignation.
According to financial industry sources on the 2nd, D.CAMP’s board of directors held an extraordinary meeting on the 30th to discuss the results of a security audit conducted on employees. The audit targeted four internal employees and focused on verifying whether they complied with security regulations during processes such as accessing personal email accounts from work computers or transferring files via KakaoTalk.
The issue is that the four employees subject to this audit are individuals who provided evidence or testimony unfavorable to the CEO during the investigation into Park Jeon (CEO)’s misconduct allegations conducted earlier this year. Park Jeon (CEO) had been subjected to an unusual ad hoc audit due to controversies over workplace harassment and sexually harassing remarks, as well as excessive budget execution, before voluntarily resigning in July.
Individual A, one of the audited employees, is a person who submitted a recorded file to the audit office as evidence showing that the former CEO had colluded with some employees regarding testimony during the audit. Additionally, at the request of the former head of the audit office who initiated the investigation into the former CEO’s misconduct allegations, Individual A took measures to preserve data whose retention period was nearing expiration. Individuals B, C, and D also cooperated with the CEO misconduct audit.
Criticism that this is a retaliatory audit is emerging within D.CAMP. A D.CAMP official, who requested anonymity, stated, “Coincidentally, the people who tried to expose the misconduct are being investigated,” adding, “The labor union sent an official letter requesting confirmation that this audit is not an adverse measure against cooperation with the CEO misconduct audit, but the audit office refused to respond.”
Doubts have also arisen regarding flaws in the audit procedure. It is claimed that the audit office failed to properly notify the audited individuals of the charges and evidence, and accessed personal emails and internal messenger records during the audit without separate notification. D.CAMP’s labor union filed a complaint with the Ministry of Employment and Labor and a report with the Personal Information Protection Commission regarding this matter, and the Ministry of Employment and Labor and other agencies have begun related investigations.
D.CAMP’s audit office announced via an internal notice on the 27th that “this audit was conducted under the approval of Lee (President).” D.CAMP’s Lee (President) is held by Cho Yong-byung, Chairman of the Korea Banking Industry Association.
In response to questions about the background of this security audit and allegations of procedural flaws, D.CAMP stated, “It is difficult to answer as the audit is ongoing.”
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