Photo: Kim Beom-seok, founder of Coupang. Credit: Coupang.
South Korea’s leading online retailer is struggling to respond to the backlash following a massive data breach that leaked the personal information of more than 33.7m customers, or practically every adult South Korean. Although Coupang 쿠팡’s Korean chief Park Dae-jun 박대준 resigned on December 10 amid public criticism, the company’s founder Kim Beom-seok 김범석 has remained silent, and declined to appear before a December 17 National Assembly 국회 hearing about the breach.
President Lee Jae-myung 이재명 대통령 took direct aim at Coupang in his December 12 presidential briefing: “Corporations break the law all the time because the penalties are too weak. They have to face massive economic penalties for hurting the public, enough for them to fear for their company’s survival.” Lee directed the government to increase the monetary penalty for data breach to up to 10% of gross sales, and expand the scope of class action lawsuits.
Several law firms have filed suit on behalf of more than 15k Coupang customers, each demanding between KRW 300k to 500k (USD 204 to 340). In addition, a US-based law firm announced on December 9 that it will soon launch a class action lawsuit against Coupang in New York, where Coupang is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
