Bom Kim Absent Again as Democratic Party Intensifies Criticism
The National Assembly held a joint hearing on Coupang, which recently experienced a large-scale personal information leak, and delivered strong criticism.
The Coupang hearing, held on December 30 under the initiative of the Democratic Party of Korea, included participation from six standing committees: the Science, ICT, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee; the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee; the Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee; the Strategy and Finance Committee; the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee; and the Political Affairs Committee.
It is unusual for multiple standing committees to hold a joint hearing focused on a single company. The aim was to comprehensively examine various issues related to Coupang, not only the personal information leak but also controversies over death from overwork, unfair business practices, and the company’s governance structure.
The Democratic Party and other ruling coalition parties sharply criticized Coupang’s internal investigation results and compensation plan following the personal information leak. Coupang recently sparked controversy by releasing its own investigation results, claiming that “no third-party information leak occurred.” The previous day, the company announced a compensation plan offering customers a 50,000 won voucher per person, which was criticized as being merely a sales promotion tactic. Assemblyman Lee Yongwoo of the Democratic Party pointed out, “Coupang, which is under investigation for the information leak incident, is playing word games by preemptively announcing the results and calling it an ‘exposure’ rather than a ‘leak.’ They have caused public outrage by presenting a deceptive compensation plan that is nothing more than a marketing ploy.”
There was also ongoing criticism regarding the absence of Bom Kim, Coupang Inc. Board Chairman and founder. The National Assembly selected 17 current and former Coupang executives as witnesses, but key witnesses-including Chairman Kim, his brother Kim Yuseok (Coupang Vice President), and former CEO Kang Hansung-submitted statements of non-attendance. Assemblyman Ahn Ho-young of the Democratic Party stated, “It is unacceptable for Chairman Kim, who is the ultimate decision-maker and effectively controls Coupang, to be absent. All possible legal actions should be taken, including additional attendance requests and criminal complaints.” Assemblywoman Kim Hyunjung of the Democratic Party also said, “Chairman Kim’s reason for non-attendance cannot be justified. Please ensure a parliamentary investigation is carried out.”
Meanwhile, the People Power Party did not attend the joint hearing. They argued that a parliamentary investigation and government response should take precedence over the hearing, and that the Political Affairs Committee-not the Science, ICT, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee-should be in charge. Democratic Party members belonging to the Political Affairs, Strategy and Finance, and Foreign Affairs and Unification Committees, where People Power Party members serve as chairs, participated in the hearing as members of the Science, ICT, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee after going through a substitution process. On the same day, People Power Party members of the Science, ICT, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee issued a statement emphasizing, “The government has not announced a schedule for releasing the investigation results even a month after the personal information leak. All relevant ministries must mobilize their investigative capabilities to swiftly resolve this national security threat.”
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