Coupang expressed regret over the Personal Information Protection Commission's decision to impose the largest-ever penalty surcharge. It said it plans to establish the facts through legal procedures going forward.
On the 11th, Coupang said in a statement, "We fully recognize our grave responsibility for causing concern to customers and the public due to this personal data leak," but also noted, "It is regrettable that our preemptive measures related to last year's data leak and our explanations based on clear facts were not sufficiently reflected in the Personal Information Protection Commission's decision."
Coupang said, "We will further strengthen our personal data protection framework and work with renewed determination to restore customer trust," adding, "We expect that once we receive the official written resolution from the Personal Information Protection Commission, the facts will be clearly established through legal procedures."
Regarding the operation of Coupang Partners, which the Personal Information Protection Commission took issue with, it said, "Coupang Partners is a program in which thousands of domestic creators, bloggers, and small business owners recommend products and generate revenue," adding, "We protect customer data and operate lawfully using the same affiliate model as other global corporations."
The Personal Information Protection Commission held a full meeting the previous day and decided to impose a 624.681 billion won penalty surcharge and 1.68 million won fines on Coupang for reasons including a personal data leak and the unauthorized collection of online activity information. This is the largest penalty surcharge ever imposed by the commission. The previous record was 134.8 billion won, imposed last year over SK Telecom's USIM data leak incident.