Rebuttal of Internal Investigation Allegations at National Assembly Hearing
"I Will Provide the Name of the Contact Person"
Minister of Science and ICT: "The NIS Has No Authority to Issue Instructions" - Dispute Over the Truth
Harold Rogers, the acting CEO of Coupang, reiterated that the investigation into the personal information leak, as announced by the company, was not an internal investigation but was conducted in accordance with government directives.
Harold Rogers, CEO of Coupang, is speaking at the 'Coupang Joint Hearing' held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 30th. Photo by Kang Jinhyung
At the National Assembly hearing held on this day to address "the Coupang security breach, personal information leak, unfair trade practices, labor environment conditions, and measures to prevent recurrence," Rogers appeared as a witness. In response to a question from Hwang Jeonga, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party, asking whether the company's previous claim that the investigation was conducted under government instructions still stood, Rogers confirmed that this was the case. When asked which government agency Coupang had cooperated with, he added, "I understand that the National Intelligence Service has publicly confirmed this." Regarding with whom he communicated, he stated, "I am willing to provide the names of the individuals with whom these communications took place."
Rogers explained, "The relevant agency said we needed to cooperate with the investigation and repeatedly requested that we contact the individual responsible for the information leak." He continued, "Although we initially refused, we understood that we had to comply with the agency's instructions under the relevant law, so we met the leaker in China." He further clarified, "(The agency) requested that we create a forensic copy and deliver it to them, which we did, while the original is in the possession of the police," and added, "We did not conduct the forensic analysis ourselves."
Previously, on the 25th, Coupang announced the results of its investigation into the personal information leak, stating that, in accordance with government instructions, it had identified the former employee responsible for the leak and secured both the leaker's statement and storage devices. The company also emphasized that the customer information stored on the leaker's computer was limited to 3,000 records, and confirmed that this information was neither distributed externally nor sold. However, controversy arose when the police and the Ministry of Science and ICT, who were supposed to lead the investigation, refuted this claim by stating that they had never coordinated with Coupang on the matter, fueling suspicions that Coupang had conducted a self-investigation to downplay the incident.
Bae Kyunghoon, Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT, who leads the "Coupang Incident Pan-Governmental Task Force (TF)," pointed out, "The forensic examination is being conducted by a joint public-private investigative team and the Personal Information Protection Commission, as well as the National Police Agency." He added, "The results of the examination must be confirmed before being disclosed, but Coupang took actions it should not have."
He further explained, "Coupang seized the suspect's laptop, one of four devices including laptops and computer storage devices, and is claiming that the 3,000 records found on it constitute the leaked information." He added, "The suspect may have uploaded information to the cloud in addition to the laptop and computer, so all possible avenues must be analyzed."
Regarding Coupang's claim that it followed government instructions and pointed to the National Intelligence Service, he said, "I understand that the National Intelligence Service only assisted in the transfer process due to concerns about loss, or the possibility of the devices being used in international (cyberattack) incidents." He emphasized, "Only the Ministry of Science and ICT, as the main government agency overseeing platforms, has the authority to issue instructions to Coupang, not the National Intelligence Service."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
