The South Korean government announced on December 18 that it will form an interagency task force to handle the recent large-scale data breach at e-commerce giant Coupang. The task force will share information from police and government investigations and discuss ways to strengthen the company's accountability. Coupang confirmed last month that personal information from 33.7 million customer accounts was compromised.
The decision was made at a meeting of science and technology-related ministers chaired by Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon on December 18. Led by Ryu Je-myung, second vice minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, the task force will include officials from the science ministry, the Personal Information Protection Committee, the Korea Media Communications Commission, and the Financial Services Commission. It will hold regular and ad hoc meetings to share information on police and government investigations into the breach and discuss ways to strengthen the company's accountability.
The move follows the government's vow to take stern action against Coupang, which confirmed last month that personal information from 33.7 million customer accounts had been compromised. The company has faced criticism for its lukewarm response to the incident and an intransigent stance toward Korean authorities. During a parliamentary hearing on Wednesday, Harold Rogers, Coupang's interim chief executive officer, apologized for the breach but did not present detailed measures on customer compensation or data security.
Coupang's headquarters is in Seoul, and the breach has dealt a significant blow to the company. The government plans to closely monitor the firm's response.
