Coupang Announces Internal Investigation Results Identifying Perpetrator
Government Says "Unilateral Announcement" Amid Ongoing Public-Private Probe
Park Junghun: "If We Let This Slide, We Will Become Slaves to Coupang"
As Coupang announced that it had identified a former employee responsible for a large-scale personal information leak and that the actual stored information was limited to 3,000 accounts, Assemblyman Park Junghun of the People Power Party strongly criticized the company, calling it a "shameless corporation." On the 25th, Park targeted Coupang on his social network service (SNS), stating, "After pouring trillions of won to dominate the distribution network, Coupang has repeatedly changed its lobbying lines whenever the government changes, using lobbying to cover up risks."
Park Junghun, a member of the People Power Party, strongly criticized Coupang, saying, "We need to show that you cannot do business like that in South Korea." Photo by Yonhap News Agency
Park continued, "After the information of 33.7 million citizens was leaked, there was no proper apology, and Kim Beomseok, the chairman who makes huge profits in our market, has not said a word. After entrusting the security system to a Chinese national and having it completely compromised, they are now trying to overcome this crisis by lobbying the Trump administration." He added, "Even if it means enduring inconvenience, we must impose the maximum possible sanctions to show that you cannot do business like that in South Korea. A penalty of 10% of sales should be imposed, and a business suspension should be actively considered. There is ample legal basis for this." He further stated, "We need to foster domestic companies such as Emart, Gmarket, and Lotte Mart as alternatives so that we have the strength to stand up to their tyranny. Only then can we minimize the damage to domestic small business owners. If we let this slide, we will truly become slaves to Coupang."
Coupang announced on the 25th that it identified a former employee who leaked customers' personal information and that he stored limited information from about 3,000 accounts. Photo by Yonhap News Agency
On this day, Coupang announced that it had identified the former employee who leaked customer personal information and that he had stored limited information from about 3,000 accounts. Previously, separate from the police investigation, Coupang had commissioned three overseas security firms to conduct an independent investigation into the personal information leak. According to their findings, the perpetrator accessed the information of 33 million customers using an internal security key stolen during his tenure, and stored information from about 3,000 accounts. The leaked customer information included names, email addresses, phone numbers, addresses, order information, and 2,609 shared entrance access codes. Payment information, login details, and personal customs clearance codes were not included.
It was also reported that the perpetrator became extremely anxious after media reports about the personal information leak emerged, and that he deleted all stored customer information immediately after seeing the news coverage.
Coupang emphasized, "The perpetrator acted alone and stated that he never transmitted customer information externally. The results of the investigation so far are consistent with the perpetrator's statement, and no evidence contradicting his statement has been found." Coupang stated that it had immediately submitted the perpetrator's written statement and related devices to the government. The company also added that it would soon announce compensation measures for customers affected by the personal information leak.
In response, the government refuted Coupang's claims, calling them "one-sided assertions." The Ministry of Science and ICT stated, "We have strongly protested to Coupang for unilaterally disclosing matters currently under investigation by the public-private joint investigation team." The ministry added, "The joint investigation team is thoroughly investigating the types, scale, and circumstances of the information leak, and Coupang's claims have not been confirmed by the investigation team."
Previously, the government decided to expand the inter-ministerial task force (TF) on Coupang's personal information leak, to be led by the Vice Minister of Science and ICT. At a countermeasure meeting attended by high-level officials from relevant ministries on this day, the government resolved to thoroughly prepare fundamental institutional reforms to prevent information leaks and consumer damage by platform companies that have a significant impact on the lives of citizens, as well as to conduct thorough investigations and take strict action regarding personal information leaks at platform companies.
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