By Kwanwoo Jun
Coupang Corp. Chief Executive Park Dae-jun has resigned over what is viewed as the worst data-breach case in South Korea.
Coupang Inc., the U.S.-listed parent, said Wednesday that Chief Administrative Officer & General Counsel Harold Rogers has been named interim CEO of Coupang Corp. after Park stepped down because of the leak of personal information of more than 30 million customers.
The Coupang case marks the latest in a series of data leaks at major firms in South Korea.
In August, the country's largest mobile carrier, SK Telecom, was fined for the leak of data of an estimated 27 million users following a cyberattack earlier this year. Credit-card company Lotte Card and telecommunications giant KT also reported data breaches on a smaller scale earlier this year, which led to public apologies and separate government investigations.
"I deeply apologize for disappointing the public with the recent private data [breach] incident," Park said in a statement Wednesday. "I feel a deep sense of responsibility ... and have decided to resign from all positions."
"I know this situation has been unsettling for many," Rogers said in a separate statement. "Our priorities now are clear: address this incident thoroughly, strengthen our information security to prevent recurrence, and restore trust."
Coupang reported last month that unauthorized access to the company's digital data for months from June until its detection in November had exposed names, email addresses, phone numbers, shipping addresses and certain order histories of an estimated 33.7 million people.
Data on payment details, credit-card numbers or login credentials weren't compromised, the company said.
South Korean police have since been investigating what local media have termed as the country's worst data leak incident.
Write to Kwanwoo Jun at kwanwoo.jun@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 10, 2025 04:17 ET (09:17 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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