Lee Jun-seok, leader of the Reform Party, sharply criticized Coupang Inc Chairman Bom Kim for refusing to appear at a parliamentary hearing on the company's massive data breach, calling it "a deeply shameful moment in the history of Korea's National Assembly."
"When compared to how Amazon's Jeff Bezos or Meta's Mark Zuckerberg personally appeared before the U.S. Congress when problems arose, Chairman Bom Kim's attitude can only be seen as blatantly disregarding Korea's National Assembly," Lee said at a Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on Friday.
Lee accused Coupang of turning the hearing into "an English listening test" by sending a new foreign CEO and CISO who barely speak Korean as witnesses. "All questions and answers were conducted through cross-interpretation, repeatedly disrupting the flow of the hearing, and core questions were met only with irrelevant answers," he said.
"When I asked why Chairman Bom Kim did not appear, the new CEO responded, 'I'm happy to be here,'" Lee added. "There was no sign of any willingness to provide accountable explanations."
Lee pointed to what he called Coupang's "double standards" as an even more serious issue. "One day before the hearing, Coupang reported this incident to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, explaining it was 'not a material incident.' If a breach of personal information of 33.7 million people is not material, then what exactly constitutes a material incident?" he said.
He highlighted a symbolic moment during the hearing when a lawmaker asked a witness for their mobile phone number and was refused on the grounds that it was "personal information." "The sight of a company representative whose firm leaked tens of millions of people's personal data saying their own phone number is protected personal information starkly reveals Coupang's level of awareness," Lee said.
The National Assembly has already voted to file criminal complaints against Chairman Bom Kim and others for violating the Act on Testimony and Appraisal before the National Assembly, Lee noted.
"The government must define this data breach as a serious legal violation and an infringement on public trust, and clearly declare that it will apply the highest level of regulations and sanctions against Coupang," he said.
