Coupang (CPNG) users are filing civil and criminal lawsuits against the e-commerce giant following a data breach that affected more than 30 million customers.
Law firm LKB Pyeongsan said Monday it submitted a damages lawsuit to Seoul Central District Court on behalf of 2,070 plaintiffs seeking 500,000 won ($370) per person in compensation. The total claim amounts to approximately 1 billion won.
The firm plans to file a second lawsuit next week and continue recruiting additional plaintiffs. About 1,800 users have expressed interest in joining the second lawsuit, according to the firm.
The complaint emphasizes the significance of personal data breaches and corporate social responsibility, and seeks to establish a causal relationship between Coupang's failure to implement adequate data security measures and the resulting damages.
The lawsuit also seeks punitive damages of up to five times the actual damages, in addition to the statutory damages of up to 3 million won under the Personal Information Protection Act. Punitive damages were introduced in July 2015 but have never been applied in Korea.
Other law firms are also pursuing damages claims. Law firm Jihyang filed a lawsuit on behalf of 10,300 users on January 7, while law firm Cheong submitted a complaint on January 1 representing 14 users seeking 200,000 won each in compensation.
Unlike U.S.-style class action lawsuits where a verdict for some plaintiffs applies to all affected parties, Korean civil law only allows joint lawsuits where each plaintiff must be named to receive compensation. Korea currently has no general class action system except for securities-related cases, though law firms commonly use the term "class action" when recruiting plaintiffs.
Criminal complaints have also been filed against Coupang executives. Law firm Jihyang said Monday it filed complaints with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's cybercrime unit against Coupang Inc., its U.S. parent company Coupang Inc., Chairman Bom Kim, and former CEO Park Dae-jun on behalf of affected users.
