The communications ministry on Tuesday urged LY, operator of the Line messaging app, to strengthen its protection of users' personal data following a massive data breach last year.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said the app provider relies heavily on Naver of South Korea, a major shareholder of LY, to operate the app system, and that it lacked appropriate countermeasures against cyberattacks.
The ministry called on the Japanese company to improve its operations through a review of its capital relationship with Naver, as it is under "considerable influence" from the South Korean company. LY was 64.5% owned by A Holdings, which was half owned by Japanese telecom company SoftBank and the other half by Naver, as of October last year.