Coupang supply vehicles are seen at a parking zone in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap
The presidential workplace on Thursday convened an pressing assembly of senior officers and ministers over a large buyer information breach at Coupang, amid intensifying criticism of the U.S.-listed e-commerce big’s gradual response to the incident.
The assembly, convened by Presidential Coverage Chief Kim Yong-beom on Christmas, was extensively seen as signaling President Lee Jae Myung’s intent to pursue swift follow-up measures.
Attendees included Science and ICT Minister Bae Kyung-hoon; Tune Kyung-hee, chair of the Private Info Safety Fee (PIPC); Kim Jong-cheol, chair of the Korea Communications Fee; and Ju Biung-ghi, chair of the Truthful Commerce Fee. Officers from the Nationwide Police Company had been additionally current.
Notably, International Minister Cho Hyun and officers from the Workplace of Nationwide Safety joined the assembly, reflecting issues that the controversy might spill over into broader Korea-U.S. relations amid Coupang’s intensive lobbying actions in Washington.
Officers in Seoul seem more and more cautious of the corporate’s suspected ties to U.S. officers and lawmakers. In accordance with U.S. Senate lobbying disclosures, Coupang has spent at the very least $10 million on lobbying in the US since August 2021.
Thursday’s assembly adopted the president’s name for more durable responses to company information breaches, with the Coupang case cited as a key instance.
Talking at a coverage briefing held by the PIPC on Dec. 12, Lee urged harsher penalties for firms concerned in repeated private information leaks, saying such companies should face penalties extreme sufficient to make them worry going out of enterprise.
The large information breach, which was disclosed in November, affected 33.7 million Coupang customers. The case has since escalated, with lawmakers and shopper teams accusing the corporate of a scarcity of transparency and accountability.
Political backlash intensified final week after Coupang founder and de facto head Kim Bom-suk, often known as Bom Kim, failed to look at a parliamentary listening to convened to handle the breach.
The Nationwide Meeting’s Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee filed a criticism towards Kim, accusing him of violating a legislation that requires witnesses to attend hearings and cooperate with investigations.
The Meeting is scheduled to carry one other two-day listening to beginning Dec. 30. Lawmakers have warned that extra complaints could possibly be filed if Kim once more fails to look.
