Coupang chairman Kim Bom-suk summoned over data breach

Coupang founder and chairman Kim Bom-suk has been summoned as a key witness at a December 17, parliamentary hearing into the company’s recent data breach.

The breach, reported on November 29, exposed the personal data of 33.7 million users.

Authorities said a former employee allegedly accessed and leaked customer names, emails, phone numbers, delivery details, and purchase histories.

Police visited Coupang’s Seoul headquarters to collect digital evidence for further investigation.

The National Assembly’s Science, ICT, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee called the hearing after finding Coupang’s initial responses insufficient.

Six executives, including CEO Park Dae-jun, chief information security officer Brett Matthes, and former CEO Kang Han-seung, as well as government and cybersecurity experts, are set to testify.

🔗 Source: The Korea Times

🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

South Korea’s data breach penalties cap at 3% of revenue, but enforcement history suggests Coupang may face far less

South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Act (the country’s data protection law) allows fines up to 3% of annual revenue for breaches. For Coupang, the cap tops 1 trillion won (~$680 million) 1.
Past cases set a lower bar. The Personal Information Protection Commission fined Meta $15.67 million for processing political and religious beliefs, same-sex marital status 2. It also found denials of data access rights and weak security that exposed users to hackers 2.
Given this history, Coupang may face a smaller fine than the cap. That would limit near-term financial impact for shareholders, even as its reputation suffers.

Rivals aim to capture over 2 million users who left Coupang

Coupang lost over 2 million daily active users (DAU) after the breach announcement. The total fell to 15.9 million on December 7, according to IGAWorks.
Naver, a South Korean ecommerce platform, launched Naver Plus Store app in March 2025. It holds 20.7% share with 50.3 trillion won Gross Merchandise Value (GMV), just behind Coupang at 22.7% and 55.09 trillion won 3.
Retailers and digital advertisers can track app installs plus DAU to see if Naver or Gmarket or 11st (both are South Korean online marketplaces) or others gained these users.
Brand and performance marketing teams at consumer brands can shift ad spend to platforms with DAU growth. Merchandising and inventory managers at ecommerce merchants can back partners that absorbed Coupang traffic to preserve reach.