Korea launches government-wide probe into Coupang data breach

South Korea’s government is mobilizing an all-hands response to a data breach at e-commerce giant Coupang affecting more than 33 million users, establishing an interagency task force to address the fallout.

At a ministerial meeting at the Seoul Government Complex on Thursday, Science and ICT Minister Bae Kyung-hoon raised the massive breach as an emergency agenda item requiring coordinated action by relevant ministries.

“Coupang’s customer data breach has heightened public anxiety, and several issues were raised at yesterday’s parliamentary hearing,” Bae said. “Given that this incident poses a serious threat to the daily lives of citizens, I am proposing an emergency agenda item to establish a government-wide response plan.”

The task force will comprise director-level officials from the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Personal Information Protection Commission, the Korea Media and Communications Commission, the Financial Services Commission, the Fair Trade Commission, the National Intelligence Service, and the National Police Agency.

A day earlier, the National Assembly’s Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee held a hearing on the data breach. Coupang CEO Harold Rogers testified on behalf of the company’s Korean operations, instead of Coupang Inc. founder Bom Kim, whom lawmakers had sought to question.

During the session, Bae said the government was willing to discuss the possibility of suspending Coupang’s business operations. “We have delivered our position to the Fair Trade Commission,” he said.

The task force will pursue the investigation while also advancing measures on corporate accountability and data-protection reforms, including the criminal probe, user protection and security certification changes. Officials said they would closely review concerns raised during the parliamentary hearing on Wednesday as well.

The interagency team, led by Second Vice Science Minister Ryu Je-myung, will hold its kickoff meeting next week.

On the same day, the ruling Democratic Party of Korea floated the idea of holding a joint parliamentary hearing involving multiple standing committees to examine the data breach.

“Preparing a full parliamentary investigation would take more than a month,” said Kim Hyun-jung, the party’s floor spokesperson. “The Coupang issue requires speed, and a joint hearing allows us to move more quickly.”

The proposed hearing would bring together the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee; the National Policy Committee; the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee; and the Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee.

The hearing would expand beyond the data breach to also address broader structural issues related to Coupang, including concerns over late-night delivery practices and alleged failures to provide severance pay.

Bom Kim’s absence from the parliamentary hearing prompted the Democratic Party of Korea to introduce legislation allowing entry bans in similar cases.

Rep. Jeon Yong-gi on Tuesday proposed two bills empowering lawmakers to seek entry bans on foreign nationals who skip hearings without a valid reason. The legislation aims to close enforcement loopholes and clarify the legal responsibilities of foreign nationals who exercise control over companies operating in Korea, Jeon explained.