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South Korea Fines Coupang 624.7 Billion Won Over Massive Data Breach

Regulators said poor management of an authentication signing key and weak access controls caused the leak, prompting a record penalty and orders to fix security gaps.

South Korea fines Coupang $408m over biggest data leak in country’s history
Coupang logo is seen in this illustration taken February 11, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
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Coupang's fine is by far the largest ever penalty for a data leak in South Korea

Overview

  • The Personal Information Protection Commission announced the 624.68–624.7 billion won fine on Thursday, June 11, 2026, splitting about 423.6 billion won for the breach and about 201.1 billion won for unauthorized tracking of users.
  • The regulator concluded that insecure handling of an authentication signing key and lax access controls let a former employee gain unauthorized access, exposing personal data for roughly 37.5 million people.
  • Investigators found Coupang unlawfully collected and stored online activity records for about 11.17 million users, including visited URLs, app names, access times and IP addresses in a form that could identify individuals.
  • Coupang expressed regret and said it will challenge the decision in court, while the watchdog also fined Coupang Fulfillment Services 248 million won for separate privacy violations involving journalists and employee data.
  • The penalty sets a new enforcement benchmark in South Korea, adds to the company’s reported compensation commitments and could deepen diplomatic friction with the United States over treatment of the U.S.-listed firm.