The presidential office will hold a minister-level meeting of related ministries on Dec. 25, Christmas Day, to prepare countermeasures for the massive personal data leak at Coupang. According to the presidential office, Policy Chief Kim Yong-beom convened Ministers from related ministries involved in the Coupang situation, including the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as the heads of the Personal Information Protection Commission, the Korea Communications Commission, the Fair Trade Commission, and the National Tax Service. Officials from investigative agencies, including the Korean National Police Agency, will also attend.
At the meeting, discussions are expected to include strengthening "economic sanctions," which President Lee Jae-myung has mentioned several times, as well as plans to remedy consumer harm and additional personal information protection measures. The presidential office also notified the foreign affairs and security line to assemble, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs. As Coupang has repeatedly avoided the National Assembly's demand for Kim Beom-suk, chair of Coupang Inc., to appear by claiming it is a "U.S. corporations," the government intends to devise countermeasures and sanctions across all ministries.
The presidential office's decision to convene an emergency meeting on Christmas reflects the gravity of the matter. On Dec. 11, during work briefings from government ministries including the Ministry of Economy and Finance, President Lee criticized the Coupang personal data leak, saying, "What '-pang' is it? Don't they just keep breaking the law there? They are not afraid of punishment at all," and added, "Economic sanctions are too weak, so they violate the law as if it were routine." In the next day's briefing from the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) and others, Lee also said, "From now on, we must make them think, 'If we do wrong, the company goes under.'"
Earlier, on Dec. 7, Oh Hyun-ju, the third deputy national security adviser, said at a press briefing, "We are reexamining whether there are shortcomings in our personal information protection measures," adding, "We are working with related ministries on ideas to further strengthen them within the year." This is why the third deputy for economic security and the director of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) will also attend this meeting. It signals an intention to discuss wide-ranging responses.
Plans to sharply raise penalty surcharges for illegal acts by corporations and to grant the Fair Trade Commission "compulsory investigative authority" are also expected to be discussed. On Dec. 9, in a closed Cabinet meeting, President Lee ordered a review of such measures. At the time, Lee asked Legislative Affairs Secretary Cho Won-cheol to "review granting compulsory investigative authority to make punishment through economic sanctions a reality." Lee also referred to Coupang's simple sign-up process and asked questions such as, "When leaving membership, is the withdrawal process just as simple?"