South Korea’s antitrust regulator has fined e-commerce giant Coupang $1.54 million for pressuring suppliers to reduce prices and cover advertising costs to meet profit targets. The Fair Trade Commission found that Coupang also delayed payments to suppliers, violating regulations on fair transactions in large retail businesses. The corrective orders issued aim to reform Coupang’s practices that burden suppliers and enhance fairness in online shopping.
Coupang, described as the dominant player in the online shopping market, was accused of compelling suppliers to make concessions to protect its profit margins. The regulatory action seeks to revamp Coupang’s margin management strategies and business models that exploit suppliers, with the goal of preventing future occurrences of unfair trade practices. The company’s operations have come under scrutiny following a data breach affecting 33.6 million users, although Coupang claims only 3,000 accounts were impacted.
In response to a recent data breach, Coupang disclosed that around 200,000 Taiwanese accounts were compromised out of the 33 million affected accounts. The company engaged cybersecurity firms Mandiant and Palo Alto Networks for a thorough forensic investigation post the breach in November 2025. Coupang attributed the breach to a former employee’s actions and emphasized their cooperation with authorities for legal actions against the perpetrator.
Coupang reported that the unauthorized access by the ex-employee involved approximately 200,000 Taiwanese accounts but assured that no highly sensitive data was compromised. The company stated that there is no evidence of the accessed customer data being viewed, shared, or transferred to others, aiming to allay concerns over the breach incident.
