Seoul: Harold Rogers, interim CEO of Coupang Corp., has left South Korea and is currently residing in another country. This development follows his non-compliance with a police summons related to a significant data leak, according to police officials.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's task force has requested the Ministry of Justice to notify them upon Rogers' return to Seoul. The ministry is also considering imposing an overseas travel ban on Rogers once he comes back to South Korea. Rogers reportedly departed the country on December 31 after attending a two-day parliamentary hearing concerning the breach of personal information affecting 33 million Coupang users.
Police had summoned Rogers on January 1 for questioning scheduled for January 5. However, Coupang was only informed of his departure after being contacted by police. The police are now seeking to bring him in for questioning at a later date in mid-month, which they have not specified.
A Coupang official stated that Rogers left for a pre-scheduled business commitment and has expressed his willingness to cooperate with the investigation and appear for questioning. Coupang previously announced on December 25 that their internal probe identified a suspect who stole personal information from 33 million users, with data of only 3,000 individuals being saved.
The police summoned Rogers as a defendant accused of obstruction of official duties and obstruction of business, seeking clarity on the company's investigation into the data leak. Additionally, the police task force plans to investigate whether Rogers' testimony to the National Assembly was truthful, spurred by a parliamentary committee's complaint alleging a violation of the act on testimony and appraisal before parliament.
The task force was established last week to address all Coupang-related cases, including the investigation into the data leak suspect, identified as a former Coupang employee with Chinese nationality. Efforts to repatriate the suspect from China, in collaboration with Interpol, have reportedly begun.