Seoul:A Seoul court has dismissed an injunction lawsuit filed by e-commerce company Coupang Corp. against a substantial fine imposed due to a significant data breach. The fine, amounting to approximately 423 billion won (US$315 million), was levied by a state-run data protection agency following the breach.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the Seoul Administrative Court ruled that there was no necessity to overturn the penalty imposed by the Personal Information Protection Commission. This decision was linked to privacy violations, including a considerable data breach impacting over 37 million users. The fine is the most significant ever imposed by the commission on a single company.
The punitive actions were taken more than six months after Coupang delayed reporting a substantial data breach in November of the previous year. The breach involved the personal information of users in South Korea, including names, phone numbers, and delivery details.
Under the personal information protection law, companies experiencing personal information leaks can face fines up to 3 percent of their annual sales, excluding sales from businesses unrelated to the violation. Coupang's average annual sales over the past three years stood at about 36 trillion won.
The data leak has also become a point of tension between Seoul and Washington, with some U.S. officials and lawmakers expressing concerns about whether the Korean unit of the U.S.-listed Coupang Inc. was subject to unfair treatment during the investigation.