Reiterated Previous Claims at National Assembly Hearing on the 31st
"Carried Out NIS Request to Meet the Suspect"
"NIS Staff Were Not Present During Data Copying Process"
Minister of Science and ICT Criticizes Coupang's Lack of Cooperation
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Coupang reiterated its previous position that meeting with the former employee responsible for leaking personal information, securing testimony and evidence, and announcing the investigation results were actions taken under the direction of the National Intelligence Service (NIS). Although the NIS called this claim "blatantly false" and requested the National Assembly to file a perjury complaint, Coupang has not backed down, escalating the dispute into a battle over the truth.
Lee Jaegul, Vice President and Head of Legal Affairs at Coupang, stated at the National Assembly hearing held on the 31st-titled "Hearing on the Coupang Security Incident, Personal Information Leak, Unfair Trade Practices, and Labor Environment, and Measures to Prevent Recurrence"-that "the NIS instructed Coupang to contact the suspect" in response 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?"
He explained, "We first received an official letter from the NIS on December 2, and the NIS stated, 'This is a matter of national security, so Coupang has a legal obligation to comply.' In early December, they also requested, 'It would be good to try sending a text message to the suspect now.'
Harold Rogers, CEO of Coupang, is speaking at the 'Coupang Joint Hearing' held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 30th.
"NIS Requested Us to Meet the Suspect"
When Chairperson Choi asked again, "Did the NIS unilaterally instruct you to contact the suspect?" Lee replied, "The NIS said, 'We cannot meet the suspect directly, so we ask that a Coupang employee meet with them.'"
Regarding whether the NIS instructed Coupang to conduct forensic analysis on the recovered items, Lee stated, "We asked the NIS what would be best to do once the devices were retrieved, and they told us we could proceed as we saw fit after the retrieval." He added, "They indicated they would allow that." Lee further explained, "During the 'imaging copy' process of duplicating data from the devices during forensics, no NIS staff were present," and "The report stating that approximately 3,000 pieces of stored information were later deleted was prepared internally by Coupang."
Harold Rogers, Interim CEO of Coupang, also refuted suspicions of a 'self-investigation' by Coupang, calling it "a successful example of cooperation between a private company and a government agency."
As he did the previous day, Rogers questioned, "Why is there no discussion about the success of the joint efforts between Coupang and the Korean government?" He continued, "This is a good example of success. Why is this not being shared with the Korean public?" He added, "The government has all the data. They have retained some data logs for over a month, and the devices for more than two weeks. I would like to see those results."
When asked by Democratic Party lawmaker Jung Ilyoung about his thoughts on the NIS's request the previous day to charge Rogers with perjury, he reiterated, "This agency (the NIS) requested our cooperation, and we had no choice but to comply."
"Coupang Investigation Results Directly Cited Suspect's Testimony... Suspicions of Malicious Disclosure"
Baek Goon, Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT, who heads the government-wide task force on the Coupang incident, criticized Coupang's announcement that the investigation was conducted under NIS instructions and that only 3,000 pieces of information were leaked as "extremely dangerous." Vice Prime Minister Baek stated, "Coupang's claim that only 3,000 items were leaked was a direct citation of the suspect's testimony, which should not have been done," and "The investigation results from the three global firms commissioned by Coupang also closely matched the suspect's statements, which raises suspicions."
He emphasized, "It is crucial to determine whether the 3,000 items were actually deleted and where they were stored. If they were saved to the cloud and then deleted, it would be difficult to recover or clarify. This information could be misused internationally, so we must take this matter very seriously."
Vice Prime Minister Baek also pointed out, "The Ministry of Science and ICT issued a data preservation order to Coupang on November 19, but Coupang allowed access logs to be deleted, resulting in the loss of five months' worth of website access records." He added, "Announcing the investigation results and compensation plan first also appears to have been done with highly malicious intent." Furthermore, he said, "Of the approximately 160 documents requested by the joint investigation team, only about 50 have been received so far," and stressed, "Coupang's top priority should be to cooperate to prevent further harm to the public."
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party submitted a request for a parliamentary investigation into Coupang on this day. The scope of the investigation includes Coupang's large-scale personal information leak, worker deaths and industrial accidents, the actual conditions of Coupang's logistics center operations, and Coupang's unfair and monopolistic business practices. Coupang founder Kim Beomseok, Chairman of the Board of Coupang Inc., is also expected to be summoned as a witness. If Chairman Kim, as with this hearing, refuses to attend, a motion for a subpoena will be issued through bipartisan agreement.
Kim Hyunjung, Democratic Party spokesperson, stated, "Under the Immigration Control Act, if there are concerns that a foreigner may cause harm to Korea's economy or society, entry can be prohibited," and added, "If Chairman Kim continues to refuse to appear, in addition to filing charges, we have already requested the relevant ministry to consider an entry ban."
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