As Coupang released a plan on the 29th to compensate for a personal data breach affecting 33.7 million people by giving each person a purchase voucher worth 50,000 won, critics say the plan lacks sincerity because most of the compensation is concentrated in "Coupang Travel," a travel products specialty section far removed from Coupang's core fast-delivery service, and in the luxury specialty section "R.LUX." Some consumers who saw the plan also criticized it, saying, "Isn't this effectively aimed at advertising the services?"
Coupang said that it feels fully responsible for the personal data breach and will implement a customer compensation plan worth 1.685 trillion won to restore customer trust. Targeting customers of 33.7 million accounts who received data breach notices on the 30th of Nov., the company plans to distribute four one-time-use purchase vouchers totaling 50,000 won per person starting Jan. 15 next year.
The compensation plan Coupang released consists of vouchers for all products on Coupang, including Rocket Delivery, Rocket Direct Purchase, Seller Rocket, and Marketplace (5,000 won), Coupang Eats (5,000 won), Coupang Travel products (20,000 won), and R.LUX products (20,000 won). The compensation amount for Coupang and Coupang Eats, which customers actually use the most, is only 10,000 won, while the remaining 40,000 won is allocated to Coupang's separate services.
Coupang Travel is a travel specialty section service that bundles and sells travel products such as lodging (hotels, resorts, pensions/camping), domestic and overseas packages, airline tickets/airtel, tickets, passes, local tours, and rental cars. It expanded into overseas travel in 2022.
R.LUX is a vertical service focused on luxury beauty operated by Coupang. A portmanteau of Rocket and Luxury, it means offering an unprecedented shopping experience by adding a differentiated Rocket service to the prestige of luxury beauty brands. R.LUX launched in Oct. last year and operates a dedicated standalone app.
Among consumers who saw the plan that day, there was criticism of the size and details of the compensation. One X (formerly Twitter) user said, "Coupang Travel and R.LUX are mere window dressing, and the actual compensation is only 5,000 won." Another user wrote, "If you break down the plan, the effective compensation is 10,000 won, and the rest are promotional coupons."
Some also said the compensation amount itself is too small. In past similar personal data breach cases, courts set damages at 100,000 won per person. In 2014, a court ordered KB Kookmin, NH NongHyup, and Lotte Card to pay up to 100,000 won per person over a breach that exposed about 100 million items of 20 types of personal information, including customer names, resident registration numbers, and card numbers.
Subsequent cases, including Interpark in 2016 and Modetour Network Inc. in 2024, also resulted in rulings of 100,000 won per person. In Apr. this year, the Korea Consumer Dispute Settlement Commission recommended that SK Telecom compensate 100,000 won per person over its data breach.
Some, however, said Coupang's plan represents its best effort. According to Coupang's own investigation released by the company, only about 3,000 consumer account records were actually exposed, and even those were not leaked externally to third parties. Still, considering consumer anxiety, the company set compensation for more than 33 million people.
Coupang's release of the compensation plan came ahead of a joint hearing that starts on the 30th. Ahead of the hearing, Coupang Chair Bom Kim also released an apology. The apology said the initial response was insufficient and that the company cooperated with the government on the investigation. It did not mention whether he would attend the hearing, and he submitted a written statement explaining his absence to the National Assembly, saying it would be difficult to attend due to a previously scheduled commitment.