Coupang Hearing Held at National Assembly on the 30th
Kim Hyunjung: "There Must Be a Promise of Zero Fine Reduction"
"Failure to Manage Former Employee Keys Is a Serious Fault"
Kyunghee Song, Chairperson of the Personal Information Protection Commission, stated on the 30th regarding the fine for Coupang's personal information leak, "We will determine the amount after a thorough investigation, taking all factors into strict consideration."
Chairperson Song made these remarks at the National Assembly during a hearing held to assess the Coupang security breach and personal information leak, unfair trade practices, and working conditions, as well as to discuss measures to prevent recurrence.
Kim Hyunjung, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Korea, pointed out, "The cause of this incident was a fundamental security failure, as Coupang did not delete the access rights of a former employee. According to the Information Security Management System-Personal (ISMS-P) certification standards that Coupang holds, it is stipulated that 'access rights must be revoked immediately upon resignation,' but Coupang failed to follow this basic rule."
She continued, "Even before this incident, there were three previous information leaks at Coupang, and each time, the Personal Information Protection Commission reduced the fine by 50 percent, citing reasons such as ISMS-P certification and voluntary reporting. It is unacceptable to grant further reductions simply because the company is certified." In response, Chairperson Song replied, "We are reviewing the matter very strictly."
Recently, the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee passed an amendment to increase punitive fines for personal information leaks from the current 3 percent of sales to 10 percent, and to specify that intentional or gross negligence will not be eligible for fine reductions.
When Assemblywoman Kim asked, "Is the failure to manage authentication keys for former employees not a simple mistake, but a clear case of gross negligence?" Chairperson Song answered, "We consider it a very serious fault and are conducting a thorough investigation."
When Assemblywoman Kim further asked, "Do you promise that, at least for this Coupang case, there will be 'zero reduction' in the fine?" Chairperson Song responded, "We will determine the fine after a thorough investigation by the commission, taking all factors into strict consideration."
Chairperson Song added, "The final amount of the fine will be decided through deliberation and resolution by the commission. We plan to carefully discuss and decide, taking all these factors into thorough consideration during the commission's process."
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