South Korea Probes Massive Coupang Data Leak Affecting 33 Million Users

Post by : Saif Nasser

South Korea is facing one of its biggest online security crises in more than ten years after a huge data leak at Coupang, the country’s most popular e-commerce company. Police and government officials are now working urgently to discover how the personal information of more than 33 million customers was exposed and who was responsible for the attack.

According to officials, the data breach is believed to have begun on June 24 through overseas servers. However, Coupang only became aware of the problem nearly five months later, on November 18. This long delay has raised serious questions about the company’s monitoring systems and how such a large attack went unnoticed for so long.

The country’s science minister, Bae Kyung-hoon, explained that the attackers took advantage of “authentication vulnerabilities” in Coupang’s servers. This means that there were weaknesses in the system that allowed someone to enter without proper permission. Authorities are now investigating whether Coupang violated national rules on personal information protection and whether stronger action should be taken against the company.

Coupang has said the leaked data includes names, email addresses, phone numbers, shipping addresses and parts of customers’ order histories. The company insists that payment information and login passwords were not exposed. Still, millions of South Koreans are angry because this information is enough to cause identity theft, scams, and serious privacy risks.

Reports from broadcaster JTBC suggest that a former Chinese employee of Coupang may be involved. This person had previously worked on authentication-related tasks and, according to the reports, used an authentication key that was still active even after their contract ended. Lawmaker Choi Min-hee stated that this key allowed the former employee to access customer details long after leaving the company. Both the police and Coupang declined to confirm or comment on the suspected individual.

Public pressure is growing fast. By Monday afternoon, online posts showed that more than 10,000 people were planning to join a class action lawsuit against the company. A lawyer involved in the effort, Ha Hee-bong, said that each affected customer could claim more than 100,000 won (about $68) in compensation. If millions join, the financial damage to Coupang could be extremely large.

Coupang, founded in 2010 by Korean-American entrepreneur Bom Kim, has grown rapidly and now leads the country’s online shopping market. It is backed by Japan’s SoftBank and has expanded into food delivery, video streaming and financial technology. But this incident has now shaken public trust in the brand, which built its reputation on reliability and convenience.

South Korean officials say the breach shows deep, structural problems in the country’s data protection system. Kang Hoon-sik, the presidential chief of staff, pointed out that there have been four major data leaks since 2021. Earlier this year, the telecom giant SK Telecom was fined about 134 billion won after a cyberattack exposed information from nearly 27 million users. Kang said these repeated crises indicate that current laws and punishments are not strong enough to prevent such failures.

He added that the Coupang breach should be a turning point. The government, he said, must improve regulations, strengthen punishment for negligence, and ensure companies treat personal data with the seriousness it deserves. Millions of South Koreans are now demanding clear answers, stronger protections, and real accountability.

The Coupang data leak is more than a technical problem. It is a wake-up call for the entire country, reminding everyone that in a digital society where almost everything happens online, personal information must be protected with the highest level of care. South Koreans will now watch closely to see how the investigation unfolds and what steps the government and Coupang will take to prevent such a disaster from ever happening again.