Seoul, Dec 28 The founder of e-commerce giant Coupang, Kim Bom-suk, on Sunday apologised for a massive data breach, marking his first formal apology since the leak of personal information that affected nearly two-thirds of the population in South Korea.
"As the founder and the chairman of the board, I sincerely apologise on behalf of all the employees at Coupang," Kim was quoted as saying in a written statement issued by the company, reports Yonhap news agency.
"I have caused huge frustration and disappointment by failing to communicate clearly since the onset of the incident. I sincerely apologise for my inadequate initial response and the lack of communication," the statement read.
Kim said he admits that his apology came later than expected. This was because he had originally intended to issue an official apology once "all facts were confirmed," but such an idea was a "wrong judgment," he added.
Kim's apology came about a month since the personal information of about 34 million customers of Coupang was leaked in South Korea.
It also came after Coupang said it had identified the former employee responsible for the data leak using forensic evidence, recovered the equipment used in the hacking and received a confession from the hacker.
The government, however, has called Coupang's investigation results a "unilateral claim," saying that a joint public-private investigation on the incident has yet to release any findings.
Kim again sent a statement of his non-appearance at a parliamentary hearing this week over the massive data breach, citing his "prearranged schedule."
Kim's brother and current head of Coupang's global operational excellence, Yoo Kim, and Kang Han-seung, the former CEO of Coupang's Korea unit, submitted a similar statement of non-appearance, according to Rep. Choi Min-hee of the ruling Democratic Party (DP).
Rep. Choi, who chairs the parliamentary Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, criticised the Coupang founder for shunning the parliamentary hearing.
Previously, lawmakers had said they would file a complaint against Kim for not attending the hearings.
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