Seoul: Coupang, South Korea’s largest e-commerce platform, has publicly apologised after the personal information of 33.7 million customers was compromised following unauthorized access to its systems.
Park Dae-jun, the CEO of Coupang, often compared to Amazon.com for its dominant role in South Korea’s retail market, posted the apology on Coupang’s official website, saying that, “We sincerely apologise once again for causing our customers inconvenience.”
This latest breach comes on the heels of several high-profile data leaks at major South Korean corporations, including telecom giant SK Telecom. Government officials held an emergency meeting to determine whether Coupang failed to meet mandatory data protection and personal information safety standards, Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon noted.
Coupang revealed that it discovered the data breach on November 18 and promptly notified authorities. The company added that it is cooperating closely with law enforcement agencies and relevant regulators as investigations proceed.
Coupang employee involvement
Known for its widely used ‘Rocket’ ultra-fast delivery service, Coupang reported having 24.7 million active commercial users during the third quarter.
According to the latest reports, a former Chinese employee of Coupang is suspected of involvement in the incident. The company filed a complaint with the police earlier this month, and the individual is now under investigation.
Coupang confirmed that the breach exposed user names, email addresses, phone numbers, delivery addresses, and certain order history details. However, the company stressed that payment data and login credentials were not compromised. Coupang also stated that the unauthorized access likely began on June 24 through servers located outside South Korea.
In response, the government-run Korea Internet and Security Agency issued a public advisory to affected consumers, cautioning them about potential phishing scams following the breach.
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