South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said that the large-scale customer data leak from e-commerce platform Coupang is a warning about the urgency of protecting digital privacy.
At a cabinet meeting on December 2, the South Korean president expressed his surprise at Coupang's failure to detect the intrusion for five months since the incident began. Mr. Lee Jae Myung emphasized that those responsible must be identified and handled soon.
South Korean police have opened an investigation into the personal information leak of more than 33 million customers from the country's largest e-commerce platform, which is rapidly expanding and diversifying its services.
Mr. Lee Jae Myung emphasized the need to end the lax thinking and practices in protecting personal data. He described personal data as a core asset in the era of artificial intelligence (AI) and digitalization.
The South Korean president also requested a review of the adjustment of fines and compensation mechanisms to accurately reflect the severity of similar incidents.
Coupang has apologized for the incident. The company is coordinating an investigation to determine whether the vulnerabilities in the system led to the worst leak in more than a decade.
