KakaoTalk, South Korea’s most-used messenger app, has once again become the center of national attention, stirring up controversy over its announcement that it would not accede to laws allowing authorities to inspect its user data.

The issue over the platform’s privacy policy has split the nation, with some people posting online comments that its new security measures have been long overdue, while others accused it of arrogance and believing that it can operate above the law.

The legal community, however, seemed to be adamant that Daum Kakao’s outright defiance of the law would simply be illegal, and that it would face charges for obstruction of justice.

Although legal sources said that no company executives had been sent to jail for not immediately responding to prosecutors’ warrants, they had faced mounting charges as no prosecutors had shown to walk away that easily from any case or investigation.

“It is understandable that Kakao has to prioritize users’ privacy, but its outright defiance could spell trouble for the company, which could face more charges and penalties when not abiding by the law,” said an industry source, declining to be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue.

Should a company resist prosecutors’ right to search and inspect, those responsible for ignoring or breaking the law could face up to five years in jail or a fine of up to 10 million won ($9,400), another source noted.

The worst case scenario is that he or she can be arrested and sent to jail for obstruction of justice.

The Justice Ministry said that it has never indiscriminately monitored users’ chat on KakaoTalk in real-time but requested for data only when needed during an investigation with a warrant issued by a court of law.

Justice Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn told a National Assembly audit committee that he could not fully make out what Daum Kakao CEO Lee Sir-goo said, but doubted what he said was that the company would not respond to legally issued warrants.

The minister, nevertheless, apologized for causing misunderstanding over the prosecution’s stance against the spread of false information regarding the government, noting that he too uses KakaoTalk for mobile communication.

CEO Lee apologized on Monday to the public for failing to adopt a trustworthy security system on its platform, which led to an exodus of more than 1.5 million users to Germany-based application Telegram in a week.

He said that as the chief executive, he will take full responsibility should it face obstruction charges when not responding to warrants, but emphasized the importance of protecting its user data over cooperating with legal authorities.

Daum Kakao, which issued new shares following the merger and became the biggest KOSDAQ-listed company on Tuesday, closed at 139,100 won, up 8.3 percent, despite concerns over KakaoTalk’s lax privacy.

By Park Hyong-ki (hkp@heraldcorp.com)