Deputy Prime Minister Bae: "Coupang's Claim of 3,000 Leaked Records Cannot Be Trusted"

Bae Kyunghun, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT, commented that it is difficult to trust Coupang's position that data from only a little over 3,000 users was stored in connection with the large-scale leak of Coupang users' personal information.

On the 11th, during the Ministry of Science and ICT work report to the Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee of the National Assembly, Deputy Prime Minister Bae made these remarks regarding the discrepancy between the 33.67 million cases of leaked data identified by the government investigation team and Coupang's claim that only a little over 3,000 cases were leaked.

Bae Kyunghun, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT, is answering lawmakers' questions at the plenary meeting of the National Assembly's Committee on Science, Technology, Information, Broadcasting and Communications on the 11th. Yonhap News

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Deputy Prime Minister Bae said, "Coupang submitted a report saying that the attacker leaked only 3,000 cases, but what we received was not the full (complete) version; it was only part of the report," adding, "Data on 33.67 million cases could be stored on a hard disk or in the cloud, but Coupang is not being clear about these aspects." He then stressed that the government has conducted the investigation into the Coupang data leak incident in accordance with laws and principles and that there was no discriminatory action.

In response to a question from Hwang Jeonga, a lawmaker of the Democratic Party of Korea, asking whether the government had taken any discriminatory measures against Coupang, Deputy Prime Minister Bae replied, "We are proceeding in accordance with laws and principles as a matter of principle." Earlier, on the 5th (local time), the U.S. House Judiciary Committee had claimed that the Korean government was discriminating in relation to the Coupang incident.

Assemblywoman Hwang said, "SK Telecom discovered the leak itself and even reported it, yet it was strongly sanctioned, whereas Coupang, after receiving a hacking threat email, announced that only 3,000 accounts had been leaked, but at least more than 30 million pieces of information, order information, and even common entrance passwords were leaked," and added, "From the standpoint of the Korean government, this is of course an issue that has no other choice but to be investigated."

In response, Deputy Prime Minister Bae expressed his agreement, saying, "I believe it is the government's duty to investigate and clarify the facts clearly." He continued, "We are continuously communicating regarding the positions of the U.S. government and the Korean government. The Office of the Minister for Trade and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are taking action, and the Ministry of Science and ICT is also cooperating."

When asked whether the announcement of the investigation results the previous day had been timed in consideration of moves by the U.S. House of Representatives and others, Deputy Prime Minister Bae replied, "We intended to announce it as quickly as possible, and we did not take the timing of the announcement into consideration."

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