President Lee Jae-myung on the 9th said economic penalties should be strengthened in connection with Coupang's massive personal data leak. The idea is that strengthening economic punishments such as fines, rather than criminal punishment, can improve effectiveness, including preventing a recurrence. He also directed that a plan be reviewed to grant the Fair Trade Commission the authority to conduct compulsory investigations into problem corporations.
According to Spokesperson Kang Yu-jung of the presidential office, Lee presided over a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office that afternoon and, in a closed-door session, issued guidelines on how to respond to the Coupang situation. Lee said, "The social expense of the Criminal Act framework is too great," and asked Korea Legislation Minister Cho Won-cheol to "review a plan to grant authority for compulsory investigations to make punishment through economic sanctions a reality."
Lee in particular asked in detail whether it is possible to grant the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) the authority for "compulsory investigations," and about practical constraints and options. He also mentioned multiple times that, when there are a large number of victims as in the Coupang situation, there is a need to "make fines realistic" accordingly. He further asked aides, "Is the withdrawal process for leaving membership as simple as the (easy) sign-up process at Coupang?"
Kang, the Spokesperson, said, "Making economic sanctions realistic is something Lee has said very often," adding, "Even if investigations are conducted under the Criminal Act into acts that pursued economic gain and caused economic harm to the ordinary majority, there are cases where significant sanctions ultimately are not imposed and social waste is large." She continued, "While there is authority for compulsory investigations under the Criminal Act, authority for compulsory administrative investigations is hard to exercise, and in many cases the investigative authority is discretionary," adding, "Because fines are difficult to impose based on investigative authority as it stands, 'authority for compulsory investigations' is needed to make this realistic."
After hearing at the meeting that "there is no compulsory force in the investigative authority under which fines can be imposed," Lee said, "In the end, granting compulsion to investigations to make fines realistic seems helpful," and ordered that such an option be reviewed.