Coupang founder Kim Bom-suk has decided not to attend a parliamentary hearing this week regarding the e-commerce company’s significant data breach, as confirmed by a lawmaker on Sunday. Kim, who serves as the chairman of Coupang’s board, cited his current overseas residence and a prior commitment for his absence from the scheduled hearing on Tuesday and Wednesday. Additionally, Kim’s brother and the current head of Coupang’s global operational excellence, Yoo Kim, along with Kang Han-seung, the former CEO of Coupang’s Korea unit, have also submitted statements indicating their non-appearance at the hearing.
“We will of course, once again, disapprove,” mentioned Rep. Choi Min-hee in a social media post. Choi, who leads the National Assembly’s Science, ICT, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee, expressed dissatisfaction over the absence of the key figures from Coupang at the hearing. In a recent development, Coupang announced that it had identified the ex-employee responsible for the data breach, recovered the hacking equipment, and obtained a confession from the hacker. However, the government has labeled these findings as a “unilateral claim,” emphasizing the ongoing joint investigation’s pending results.
Amidst growing concerns, Coupang clarified that the internal investigation into the suspected employee’s actions was closely coordinated with the government. This clarification followed earlier statements by the company asserting that no customer data had been leaked to any external parties. Speculation surrounding the independence of Coupang’s investigation without proper oversight has raised doubts about the verification process and transparency in handling the data breach incident.
