"Park Sanghyuk Criticizes Coupang's Announcement: 'Problematic for the Perpetrator to Investigate as if a Victim'"

"National Assembly Preparing Coupang Hearing"

As Coupang released the results of its own investigation regarding the personal information leak incident, Park Sanghyuk, Senior Deputy Floor Leader for Communication of the Democratic Party of Korea, criticized, "It is problematic that the perpetrator investigated itself as if it were the victim."

On December 26, during an appearance on SBS Radio's "Kim Taehyun's Political Show," Senior Deputy Floor Leader Park stated, "This issue could potentially lead to various diplomatic problems with China." He continued, "It seems that Coupang conducted an investigation almost equivalent to a compulsory investigation, but what private company could go to China, meet the individuals involved, and question them directly? That only happens in movies."

On the 25th, a Coupang delivery vehicle is parked in a parking lot in downtown Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

He further argued, "Coupang is in a position where it must take responsibility on multiple fronts," and criticized, "It is incomprehensible for the company to make such an announcement while it should be subject to police and government investigations."

He went on to say, "The National Assembly is also preparing a hearing on Coupang," adding, "We plan to adopt a hearing plan and summon various witnesses. The key issue is how committed the standing committee members are to addressing this matter." He added, "While the Science, ICT, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee (SICTBC) is not the standing committee that deals with every issue in full scope, it has already held one hearing, and Kim Hyun, the secretary, along with others, are strongly committed to resolving the problem."

Senior Deputy Floor Leader Park emphasized, "A parliamentary investigation takes longer than expected, so we are pushing to hold a hearing as soon as possible." He continued, "In fact, the first hearing was held by the SICTBC, and I believe Coupang's arrogant attitude was revealed there, which was a significant achievement."

The previous day, Coupang announced through a press release, "We have identified the former employee who leaked customer information. The individual confessed to all actions and provided specific details on how they accessed the customer data." The company explained that the leaker used a compromised security key to access basic information from 33 million customer accounts, but only saved information from about 3,000 of those accounts. Reportedly, after media coverage of the incident, the leaker, feeling anxious, deleted all the customer information in their possession.

Meanwhile, the police have launched an investigation into Coupang, tracking the whereabouts of the former employee of Chinese nationality suspected of leaking personal information, and are also examining issues within Coupang's internal management system.