LINE Yahoo! app photo display error... Japanese government issues administrative guidance again = Korean report

The Japanese government issued administrative guidance to LINE Yahoo, the company that operates the LINE app, regarding a photo display malfunction that occurred in LINE's "Album" photo function last year.
According to reports by major Japanese media outlets such as Kyodo News on the 29th, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications issued an administrative guidance document to LINE and Yahoo! President Takeshi Idezawa the previous day, instructing him to take measures regarding the "secrecy of communications" as stipulated in the Telecommunications Business Act.
The current measures are in response to a problem that occurred in November last year in which photos of other users were mistakenly displayed in the "Album" photo storage function of LINE.
This feature is intended for users to save photos, but there was a glitch where thumbnails of photos saved by some users were mistakenly displayed in other users' albums.
The error is believed to have affected approximately 135,000 users both in Japan and overseas, with their photos mistakenly appearing in other people's apps. The cause was a problem with the photo processing system.
It is said that there was a problem with the program that updates the service. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications determined that this case constituted a leak of "secrecy of communications" under the Telecommunications Business Act, and issued a notice of suspension of operations against LINE and Yahoo!
The report called for strengthening pre-service testing, reviewing development guidelines, and improving the company's response system. It also asked for continuous reporting of progress on improvements, although no specific deadline was set.
In a statement released the previous day, Yahoo! Japan said, "We take the administrative guidance seriously, will take thorough measures to prevent recurrence and the spread of damage, and will strive to provide a safe service."
In addition to this latest glitch, Yahoo! LINE has had multiple incidents of personal information leaks, leading to the Japanese government issuing administrative guidance twice, in March and April of last year.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications emphasized that "accidents have been occurring repeatedly in services that are widely used by the public. It is necessary to take strong measures to prevent recurrence."
LINE is a widely used messenger app, and the number of LINE users in Japan reached 97 million as of September last year.
The administrative guidance at that time included a request to review capital relationships.
This sparked a debate in South Korea over whether Japan was trying to take control of LINE Yahoo from NAVER.
The joint venture, A Holdings, was established by SoftBank, with SoftBank and Naver each holding a 50% stake in A Holdings.