Seoul, Dec 30 Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon on Tuesday reaffirmed that a recent data leak at Coupang affected 33 million customers in South Korea, voicing concerns over an assessment report released separately by the US-listed e-commerce giant last week.
"The joint government–private sector investigation, including the Personal Information Protection Commission and the police, revealed that the names and email addresses of more than 33 million users were leaked," Bae said during a parliamentary session.
The remarks came after Coupang claimed last week that data from only about 3,000 accounts had actually been downloaded and later deleted by the suspect, reports Yonhap news agency.
"We cannot agree with that claim," Bae said.
The minister said details such as users' addresses and order information were also believed to have been leaked.
"We express grave concern toward Coupang, which issued an announcement that had not been coordinated with the government," he said.
Meanwhile, Coupang has announced a compensation plan worth more than 1.68 trillion won ($1.17 billion) following a massive personal data breach.
The compensation plan comes a day after Coupang founder Kim Bom-suk issued his first public apology since the incident, which affected nearly two-thirds of South Korea's population, reports Yonhap news agency.
Under the plan, the U.S.-listed company will provide 50,000 won worth of discounts and coupons to each of 33.7 million customers, including paid Coupang Wow members, regular users and former customers who have closed their accounts, the company said in a press release.
Compensation payments will be made gradually starting Jan. 15, it added.
"Taking this incident as a turning point, Coupang will wholeheartedly embrace customer-centric principles and fulfill its responsibilities to the very end, transforming into a company that customers can trust," Coupang's interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Harold Rogers said in the release.
The per-person compensation consists of 5,000 won for Coupang's e-commerce platform, 5,000 won for food delivery service Coupang Eats, 20,000 won for Coupang's travel products and 20,000 won for R.LUX luxury beauty and fashion products.
Last week, Coupang said it had identified a former employee responsible for the data leak through forensic evidence, recovered the equipment used in the hacking and received a confession from the suspect.
The company claimed that data from only about 3,000 accounts was actually saved and later deleted by the suspect.
The government, however, has dismissed Coupang's findings as a "unilateral claim," noting that a joint public-private investigation into the incident has yet to release any conclusions.
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