Backlash Grows Over Coupang’s ‘50,000 Won Compensation Plan’... Civil Society Declares ‘Coupon Refusal’ Campaign

[Financial News] Coupang has begun offering vouchers worth 50,000 won per person as compensation for a personal data leak, but mounting restrictions attached to their use are further intensifying consumer backlash. Civil society organizations have denounced them as mere “show-off coupons” and launched collective action calling for users to leave Coupang and refuse the coupons.
According to civil society groups and others on the 15th, Coupang from this day started distributing 50,000 won purchase vouchers per person to approximately 33.7 million customers who received notification of the data breach. The vouchers consist of 5,000 won usable on all products on Coupang, 5,000 won for Coupang Eats, 20,000 won for Coupang Travel, and 20,000 won for R.LUX. They can be downloaded sequentially via banners on the main page of the app, mobile web, and PC, and are automatically applied at checkout.
However, controversy over the effectiveness of the vouchers has continued since the compensation plan was announced. Of the total 50,000 won, only 5,000 won can be freely used on Coupang’s main app, which consumers use the most, prompting criticism that it is “in effect just a 5,000 won compensation.” On top of that, various restrictions on the usage period, eligible products, and method of use have been added.
In practice, the vouchers must be used by April 15, after which they automatically expire. Wow membership customers can use the vouchers without a minimum order amount, but regular customers must spend at least 19,800 won for Rocket Delivery and 29,800 won for Rocket Jikgu to use them. In addition, among Coupang products, books, infant formula, jewelry, and gift certificates are excluded from voucher eligibility, and on Coupang Travel, purchases such as hotel buffets and e-coupons are not allowed.
As these stringent conditions have been made public, criticism of Coupang has been boiling over. On Social Networking Service (SNS) platforms, comments are pouring in such as, “I’m angry that they added all sorts of restrictions on top of vouchers for travel and luxury goods that I rarely use,” “With everything blocked off, what exactly are we supposed to use them for?” and “Isn’t this deceiving consumers?”
The backlash from civil society organizations is also steadily spreading. Objections to Coupang’s compensation plan have now evolved into a “Refuse Coupang Coupons” movement. The Joint Action for a Safer Coupang, which is made up of 135 labor, small-merchant, religious, political, and civil society organizations, held a press conference that day and announced that until the Coupang incident is resolved, they will push for withdrawal from Coupang and refusal of the discount coupons. They have also launched an online citizen declaration campaign to reject the vouchers.
Yang Chang-young, head of the Center for People’s Livelihood Improvement of People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD), criticized, “These discount coupons from Coupang are not compensation but a trick to deceive the public and boost sales,” adding, “Just by looking at the terms of use, you can see their intention not to incur a single loss themselves. A three-month usage period, not usable for takeout orders, no refunds of remaining balances—can something with such conditions really be called compensation?”
Organizations representing small merchants are also strongly protesting. Lee Sung-won, secretary-general of the Korea Federation of Micro Merchants and Self-Employed Workers, said, “To resolve the various problems caused by Coupang, citizens must show that they can live just fine without Coupang,” and added, “We self-employed workers will take the lead in ‘leaving Coupang’ until this situation is resolved and will refuse the 5,000 won discount coupons.”
Religious circles have likewise emphasized social responsibility in this matter. Venerable Sigyeong, vice chair of the Social and Labor Relations Commission of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, said, “Using these discount coupons is not simply a matter of convenience or money; it is throwing away our dignity to an American company, Coupang, that disregards the public and looks down on the Republic of Korea,” and continued, “If all citizens withdraw from Coupang and refuse to use the coupons until the Coupang incident is resolved, we may be able to find a breakthrough in issues such as worker deaths from overwork, unfair treatment of small merchants, and consumer personal data problems.”
welcome@fnnews.com Jang Yu-ha Reporter