Seoul: Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon has criticized U.S. e-commerce giant Coupang Inc. for not cooperating with the ongoing government investigation into a significant data breach.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the minister's comments followed Coupang's assertion that its internal probe found only 3,000 user accounts were affected, contrary to the over 33.7 million accounts initially reported last month. Coupang maintained that its investigation was carried out in close consultation with government authorities, but the South Korean government refuted these claims, labeling them as a "unilateral" conclusion to an ongoing investigation.
Minister Bae expressed concerns over Coupang's statements, asserting that the company quoted the suspect's testimony regarding the number of affected accounts. He also warned that the leaked data, even if claimed to be deleted, could still be stored elsewhere and potentially used for cyberattacks. Bae criticized Coupang for allowing website access logs to be deleted over a five-month period, which he stated violates legal requirements.
Coupang, represented by legal official Lee Jae-gul, disclosed that during their investigation, the company retrieved a laptop linked to the data breach from a river in China. Lee mentioned that South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) was informed about the laptop, which was found underwater based on the suspect's account.
Meanwhile, South Korea's Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has announced the possibility of temporarily suspending Coupang's business operations due to the data breach. FTC Chairman Ju Biung-ghi stated that a joint public-private investigation is assessing the extent of the breach and Coupang's potential measures for compensating affected users.
Public dissatisfaction has been further fueled by Coupang's announcement of a 1.69 trillion-won (US$1.17 billion) compensation plan. Many have criticized it as a promotional tactic, as the compensation largely consists of vouchers requiring additional purchases. Allegations have also arisen that the compensation program might restrict users from seeking further legal redress, though Coupang's interim CEO Harold Rogers denied such conditions exist within the compensation scheme.
Rogers assured that the plan would not be used to reduce potential damages if claims were filed against the company. However, he refrained from commenting on whether Coupang founder Kim Bom-suk would attend a parliamentary inquiry, stating it was not his place to instruct Kim to do so.