Coupang Joint Hearing Held on the 31st
Questioned on Whether NIS Instructed Contact with Suspect
Vice President Lee Jaegul: "There Was an NIS Request"
Admits "Timing and Method of Disclosing Investigation Results Were Decided Independently"
Lee Jaegul, Vice President of Legal Affairs at Coupang, stated regarding the personal information leak incident that "the National Intelligence Service (NIS) instructed us to contact the suspect."
At the Coupang joint hearing held on December 31, Vice President Lee responded to a question from Choi Minhee, Chairperson of the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee, who asked, "Did the NIS instruct Coupang to contact the suspect?" Lee replied, "On December 2, we received an official letter from the NIS, and we were informed that, since the matter was related to national security, we had a legal obligation to comply." He added, "In early December, we were further contacted by the NIS, who suggested that it would be good to reach out to the suspect, and we understood this as a request from the NIS."
When Chairperson Choi asked again, "Did the NIS unilaterally instruct you to contact the suspect?" Vice President Lee answered, "The NIS often expresses things ambiguously, but that is how I understood it," and confirmed, "There was a request."
Regarding whether the NIS instructed Coupang to conduct forensic analysis on devices that Coupang had retrieved on its own, Lee said, "We asked the NIS what would be the best course of action when the devices were recovered, and they said that after retrieving the devices, we could proceed as we saw fit," adding, "They expressed it as if they permitted us to handle it."
On the process of selecting a forensic firm, Lee explained, "There were discussions with the NIS involving several companies, and both the firms proposed by Coupang and those suggested by the NIS were reviewed together," and "after various discussions, a final decision was made."
However, Lee drew a line regarding the scope of the NIS's involvement in the investigation. He stated, "During the 'imaging copy' process, where data is copied from the devices during forensics, NIS staff were not present," and "the report stating that approximately 3,000 pieces of information were stored and subsequently deleted was prepared independently by Coupang."
Regarding the investigation of the suspect, Lee said, "Since the NIS was in a situation where they could not meet the suspect directly, there was a request for a Coupang employee to meet the suspect instead, but the NIS did not interrogate the suspect directly."
When Chairperson Choi asked, "Was the timing and method of releasing the investigation results entirely decided independently by Coupang?" Lee replied, "We had sufficient discussions with the NIS regarding the suspect's initial statements, which formed the basis of the findings."
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