South Korean police investigating a massive personal data breach at e-commerce giant Coupang are reviewing whether to seek an arrest warrant for its interim chief executive after he failed to comply with repeated requests to appear for questioning, police said Monday.
Park Jung-bo, commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, told a news briefing that authorities estimate more than 30 million customer accounts were affected, although the figure has not yet been confirmed.
Asked whether Coupang attempted to downplay the extent of the breach, Park said police would review the company’s explanation but added, “What we have discovered differs from what Coupang has stated.”
Coupang previously said, after conducting its own investigation of the incident, a former Chinese employee accessed basic information from 33 million customer accounts using a stolen security key but stole data from only about 3,000 accounts. Police, however, believe information from more than 30 million accounts was leaked.
Authorities said they have nearly completed forensic analysis of digital devices related to Coupang’s internal investigation. The leaked information reportedly includes customers’ names, addresses and email addresses.
Coupang's interim CEO Harold Rogers has failed to comply with their first and second summonses issued on Jan. 5 and Jan. 14, respectively, police said.
After the second summons was ignored, police issued a third request for Rogers to appear. The date of the request was not disclosed.
Asked whether police would seek an arrest warrant if Rogers again fails to appear, Park said authorities would first review the reasons for his absence.
“We do not seek arrest warrants unconditionally,” he said. “We must examine why he does not comply even after a third summons.”
Rogers has left the country on Dec. 31 after attending a two-day parliamentary hearing.
However, Park added that all individuals are required to follow standard legal procedures and that police could seek an arrest warrant if the legal requirements were met. Under Korean practice, authorities may seek an arrest warrant if a suspect repeatedly refuses to appear for questioning without sufficient justification.
Police are also continuing to investigate the former employee suspected of causing the data breach. Authorities requested his repatriation through Interpol but have not received a response, Park said.
“There are limitations because the suspect is a foreign national,” Park said. “Interpol does not have enforcement power, so without cooperation from the relevant country, it is difficult. However, we are working toward bringing the individual back to Korea to hold him accountable under Korean law.”
shinjh@heraldcorp.com
