Coupang Issues Apology Following Major Data Breach Affecting 33.7 Million Accounts

South Korea’s largest online retailer, Coupang, apologized on Sunday for a breach of personal information affecting 33.7 million customer accounts due to unauthorized data access.

“We sincerely apologize once again for causing our customers inconvenience,” Park Dae-jun, CEO of the firm often described as the Amazon.com of South Korea, said in a statement posted on the company’s website.

The incident is the latest in a series of data leaks at major South Korean companies, including SK Telecom.

The government, which convened an emergency meeting on Sunday, is examining whether Coupang violated safety regulations related to personal information protection, according to Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon.

Coupang said on Saturday that it became aware of the breach on November 18 and reported it to authorities. The company added that it is cooperating with law enforcement and regulatory agencies.

The company, whose services are widely used by Koreans through its “Rocket” fast delivery offering, reported 24.7 million active commercial users in the third quarter.

Yonhap News Agency reported on Sunday that a former employee from China at Coupang is suspected of involvement in the breach. Coupang filed a complaint with police this month, and an investigation is underway, Yonhap said, without citing its sources.

Coupang could not be immediately reached for comment outside business hours.

The breach exposed customers’ names, email addresses, phone numbers, shipping addresses, and certain order histories, but did not compromise payment information or login credentials, the company said.

The unauthorized access to personal information is believed to have begun on June 24 via overseas servers, according to the company.

The government-run Korea Internet & Security Agency issued a public advisory for those affected by the breach, warning them about phishing scams.