- Coupang confirms massive breach exposed 34 million customers’ personal information and went undetected for nearly six months
- Police raided Songpa-gu’s office and seized evidence after a former employee’s account was allegedly misused.
- More than 10,000 victims file a class action lawsuit demanding compensation
Police have raided the offices of South Korea’s largest e-commerce store, Coupang, as part of an investigation into one of the biggest data breaches in the country’s recent history.
In the last days of November, Coupang confirmed that it had suffered a cyber attack and lost the personally identifiable information (PII) of 34 million customers. According to the company’s CEO, the attack started in June 2025 and went unnoticed for almost six months.
During this time, the attacker captured people’s names, email addresses, phone numbers, shipping addresses and specific order information, putting them at serious risk of identity theft and fraud.
Well over a dozen researchers
According to initial information, the data theft was committed by a former Coupang employee, also a Chinese citizen. The employee’s account was not closed even after he left the company and this access was later used for the data breach.
The police are now involved and send seventeen investigators to search and seize the company’s office in Songpa-gu. According to local media, “this search and seizure is an essential measure to fully understand the case” and “to thoroughly investigate all the facts of the case, including who disclosed personal information, the method of disclosure and the reason.”
Local media also reported that some evidence, including internal documents and server logs, had been seized.
“Coupang will do its best to prevent further damage in close cooperation with the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Personal Information Protection Commission, the Korea Internet and Security Agency, the National Police and other joint public-private investigation teams,” Coupang CEO Park Dae-joon said in a letter published after the breach.
Coupang is the country’s largest e-commerce store and is often called the “Amazon of South Korea”. Along with this investigation, Reuters reports that more than 10,000 people have already expressed interest in joining a class action against the retailer, potentially paying $68 per person for their losses.
IN cyber news