South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang is undergoing a significant leadership change following the resignation of CEO Park Dae-jun. His departure comes in the wake of a massive data breach that exposed the personal information of nearly 34 million customers, affecting more than half of the country's population. This incident highlights growing cybersecurity concerns for the retail giant, often dubbed the "Amazon of South Korea" for its market dominance.
In a statement, Park Dae-jun apologized for the breach, expressing a "deep sense of responsibility for the outbreak and the subsequent recovery process." Coupang has since announced his replacement: Harold Rogers, who previously served as the top lawyer for Coupang’s U.S.-based parent company. This leadership transition was confirmed via a machine translation of the company's official statement.
The extensive data breach, which compromised the personal data of close to 34 million people, allegedly began in June but remained undetected until November. Initially, Coupang reported that over 4,500 customers had their data stolen. However, the company later dramatically revised this figure upwards, revealing the true scale of the compromise.
This Coupang hack is the latest in a series of security incidents that have plagued corporate giants and even the central government across South Korea this year. Notable past events include a data center fire that led to a massive, irretrievable loss of South Korean government data, raising broader questions about the nation's digital defenses and cybersecurity infrastructure.
