Police: "Over 30 Million Coupang Accounts Leaked"...Probing Allegations of Downplayed Damage

Financial News – Police announced that more than 30 million Coupang accounts are believed to have been leaked in the massive personal data breach involving the company.
Park Jung-bo, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA), said at a regular briefing on the 26th, "It seems that the Coupang personal information leak case has almost taken shape," adding, "We have identified the intrusion route, and the key question is how much data was leaked. It is not final yet, but it appears to be over 30 million accounts."
The figure of over 30 million that Park mentioned is based on the number of leaked accounts. Earlier, Coupang had disclosed its own findings, stating that a former Chinese employee, identified as A, had stored about 3,000 items of personal information on a hard drive.
Regarding suspicions that Coupang may have intentionally downplayed the scale of the data leak, Park said, "We need to verify that," declining to elaborate further. He added, "As for the allegations of evidence destruction related to the company’s self-investigation, the analysis of the digital devices previously submitted is almost complete."
Police obtained an arrest warrant for A and requested a red notice from the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), but they have not received any meaningful response so far.
Park explained, "Because the suspect is a foreign national, we cannot simply summon and question them at will," and continued, "Even so, we are taking various measures to have the suspect extradited, with the goal of conducting an investigation."
Authorities have issued a third summons for Coupang CEO Harold Rogers, who is currently overseas. Asked whether they might seek an arrest warrant for Rogers, Park replied, "We do not automatically apply for an arrest warrant in every case," and added, "We also need to examine why he did not comply with the third summons, so it is difficult to give a blanket answer."
In response to claims that the investigation into Coupang in the United States amounts to discriminatory treatment, Park dismissed the criticism, saying, "We are conducting the investigation strictly in accordance with the principles and procedures set out in the law."
jyseo@fnnews.com Reporter Seo Ji-yoon Reporter