As controversy grows over Coupang releasing its own probe results after contacting the leaker in the personal data breach, Chair Bom Kim and others have been sued on charges of "organized obstruction of investigation."
Law firm Jihyang said on the 26th that, representing victims of the Coupang personal data leak, it filed a complaint with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's cyber investigation unit against CoupangInc Chair Bom Kim, Coupang CEO Harold Rogers, and other executives on charges of obstruction of official duties by deception, destruction of evidence, and obstruction of business.
Earlier, on the 25th, Coupang said, "We have identified the former employee who leaked customer information," and released its own investigation results. The leaker accessed 33 million accounts, but actually stored information for only about 3,000, and there were no indications of leaks to a third party, it said.
Without consulting police, Coupang independently contacted the former Chinese employee who was the leaker. The employee threw a laptop, a key piece of evidence, into a nearby stream, and Coupang claimed it deployed divers to retrieve the laptop. In response to Coupang's announcement, the Ministry of Science and ICT said it was an "unverified claim" and lodged a strong protest with Coupang.
Regarding the criminal complaint against the chair and others, Jihyang said, "Coupang's unilateral contact with the leaker and the announcement on the 25th are attempts to obstruct the state's official investigation and to systematically cover up a crime," adding, "It is a serious challenge to the national judicial system and a malicious act that hinders relief for 33.7 million victims."
Jihyang also said of Coupang's claim that "no information was leaked to any third party" that it was "a clear act of obstructing the investigation by misleading its direction toward 'no external leak.'" On Coupang's retrieval and forensic analysis of the laptop, which is evidence, it said, "a grave act of obstructing justice," adding, "It ignores the state's lawful procedures for securing evidence, seizes and contaminates the evidence ahead of authorities, and seeks to throw the investigation into confusion."
Jihyang argued that all Coupang executives and employees involved in the announcement of these findings, including CEO Rogers, should be immediately banned from leaving the country and that immediate search and seizure should be conducted. It also said Kim, who is staying in the United States, should be summoned immediately for questioning and, if noncompliant, international criminal justice cooperation should be used.