Ju Biung-ghi, the Chairperson of the Korea Fair Trade Commission, said on the 23rd that the decision to suspend Coupang's business over the personal data leak had not been withdrawn.
Appearing at a full meeting of the National Policy Committee at the National Assembly that day, the Chairperson responded "That is not true" to a remark by Min Byung-deok of the Democratic Party of Korea that "there was talk that suspending Coupang's business is impossible."
On the 19th, a report said the legal requirements to order a business suspension for Coupang had not been met. Under the Electronic Commerce Act, if personal information is stolen and consumers suffer direct harm or there is a high risk of such harm, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) can suspend the business of the corporations involved. The FTC's investigation has so far found no cases where stolen personal information led to consumer harm.
However, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) believes a suspension order would be possible later if cases of identity theft are confirmed. On this, Min said, "Not only subscribers but also delivery addresses and front-door passwords were leaked," adding, "There is a high likelihood of harm such as identity theft arising from this."
The Chairperson also said that companies that colluded on flour prices should double the current extent of their price cuts. Some flour companies recently lowered prices by about 5%, but the Chairperson said, "Since raw material prices have fallen, by rough estimate it seems appropriate to cut by more than about 10%."
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) is currently reviewing allegations that CJ CheilJedang, Daehan Flour Mills, Sajo Dongaone, Samyang Corporation, Samhwa Flour Mills, and Hantop colluded on flour prices and volumes for six years starting in October last year. The FTC reached an interim conclusion to order these companies to reset prices. A final decision could come as early as the first half of the year.