PPP Criticizes Choi Minhee as Coupang Joint Hearing Chair: "Acting as De Facto Supreme Chairperson?"

"First, a Special Parliamentary Investigation Committee on Coupang Must Be Established"
"Joint Hearing Would Only Amount to Scolding the Management"

The People Power Party criticized the Democratic Party of Korea on the 22nd for pushing for a joint hearing on Coupang, which was responsible for a massive personal data leak, saying, "The proper course of action is to quickly establish a special parliamentary investigation committee first."

On the 9th, Choi Minhee, Chairperson of the Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee, is striking the gavel at the plenary meeting held at the National Assembly. 2025.12.9 Photo by Kim Hyunmin

Members of the Science, Technology, Information, Broadcasting and Communications Committee from the People Power Party issued a statement that afternoon, emphasizing, "The previous Coupang hearing ended without significant results due to the absence of Chairman Kim Beomseok and others, so we decided to proceed with a parliamentary investigation along with filing a complaint."

They stated, "The government must also accelerate the investigation by the joint task force and speed up the preparation of measures to address the secondary damages caused by the personal data leak affecting 33.79 million citizens," and pointed out, "If a joint hearing is held before the government investigation is complete, what more can be accomplished other than scolding Coupang’s foreign management, who will likely use the language barrier as an excuse to evade questions?"

They further explained, "If necessary, the committee could receive an interim investigation report from the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Korea Communications Commission, and the Korea Internet & Security Agency, but urging the government to conduct a prompt investigation should come first."

The People Power Party also criticized Choi Minhee, the Democratic Party’s chairperson of the Science, Technology, Information, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, for taking the role of chairing the joint Coupang hearing.

They said, "While the Democratic Party acknowledges that the Political Affairs Committee has a greater role, they insist that Chairperson Choi should lead the joint hearing simply because the chair of the Political Affairs Committee is from the opposition party," adding, "This is said to be Chairperson Choi’s own suggestion, rather than a directive from the Democratic Party’s floor leadership."

They continued, "As even the Democratic Party has admitted, the Political Affairs Committee will play a larger role in future actions against Coupang, overseeing agencies such as the Fair Trade Commission, the Personal Information Protection Commission, and the Prime Minister’s Office’s pan-governmental investigation team. Moreover, the Science, Technology, Information, Broadcasting and Communications Committee has the fewest members participating in the joint hearing."

They criticized, "Chairperson Choi has not only embarrassed the entire National Assembly by acting as a dictator within the committee and distributing wedding invitations and receiving congratulatory money from agencies under review during the parliamentary audit period, but now seems intent on acting as a de facto supreme chairperson of the National Assembly."

Previously, the Democratic Party announced that a joint Coupang hearing involving five standing committees of the National Assembly would be held on the 30th and 31st. The participating committees include the Science, Technology, Information, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, the Political Affairs Committee, the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, the Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee, and the Planning and Finance Committee.

Chairperson Choi will preside over the joint hearing, and Kim Hyun, the ruling party secretary of the Science, Technology, Information, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, will serve as chief secretary. Six members from the Science, Technology, Information, Broadcasting and Communications Committee and two members from each of the other committees will participate as hearing members.