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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News Agency |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] SEOUL, Dec. 9 — Police have launched a compulsory investigation into the massive personal data breach involving Coupang, South Korea’s largest e-commerce platform.
The Cyber Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced today that it conducted a search and seizure at Coupang’s headquarters in Songpa District, deploying 17 investigators, including the unit chief overseeing the case. The police previously assembled a special task force of more than 20 members to respond to the incident.
“This search and seizure is a necessary measure to accurately assess the incident,” the police stated, adding that investigators will conduct a comprehensive analysis of the digital evidence obtained to determine who leaked the data, the leak’s route, and its underlying cause.
A senior official at the National Office of Investigation said in a briefing yesterday that police questioned Coupang as a respondent on November 28 and emphasized that “additional investigations may be conducted in any area if deemed necessary.”
Coupang earlier confirmed that approximately 33.7 million customer accounts had been compromised. The leaked information included customer names, email addresses, delivery address books, and some order details. However, Coupang said that payment information, credit card numbers, and login credentials were not exposed.
Police launched a preliminary inquiry on November 21 and formally began the investigation on November 25 after receiving a complaint from Coupang. They have since been reviewing server log records and related materials submitted by the company.
In the wake of the unprecedented data breach, damage-compensation lawsuits against Coupang have been mounting. As of December 8, more than 200,000 individuals had joined legal actions through various law firms. The U.S. affiliate of Daeryun Law Firm has also announced plans to file a consumer class action against Coupang Inc., Coupang’s parent company, in a U.S. federal court in New York.
The National Assembly’s Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, which held an emergency inquiry on December 2, is scheduled to convene a hearing on December 17 regarding the incident. Committee members have named Bom Suk Kim, Chairman of Coupang’s Board of Directors, and Park Dae-joon, Coupang’s CEO, as witnesses.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
