Coupang Data Breach Fallout: South Korean E-Commerce Giant Confirms Customer Compensation Plan

Coupang just confirmed it's paying up. The South Korean e-commerce titan is cutting checks for customers caught in its recent user data breach—a move that's less about corporate generosity and more about regulatory survival.

The Damage Control Playbook

When your platform leaks user data, you follow the script. Issue the obligatory apology. Promise enhanced security measures. And, crucially, open the corporate wallet. Coupang's compensation announcement ticks all the boxes, a textbook response designed to placate regulators and salvage brand trust before the next earnings call.

A Cost of Doing Digital Business

Data breaches have become a grim line item in the modern corporate budget. For giants like Coupang, the calculus is simple: weigh the immediate financial hit of compensation against the long-term brand erosion and potential fines from watchdogs like South Korea's Financial Services Commission. Paying customers now is often the cheaper option.

Trust, the Non-Refundable Asset

You can compensate for leaked data, but you can't buy back shattered trust. Every breach chips away at the foundational contract between platform and user. In the hyper-competitive Asian e-commerce arena, that's a vulnerability no amount of won can fully patch.

So Coupang pays, regulators take notes, and life in the digital marketplace stumbles on. Just remember, in the grand ledger of big tech, your privacy is often the most negotiable asset of all—valued precisely at the moment it's lost.

Rogers says company executives deeply reflecting

Coupang’s interim CEO, Harold Rogers, said the company’s executives and employees are deeply reflecting on the extent of harm the recent data leak has caused the affected customers. Preparing a compensation plan is part of the company’s responsible measures for its customers. The compensation plan is also a response to harsh criticism from major South Korean organizations. 

“All of Coupang’s executives and employees are deeply reflecting on how much concern and anxiety the recent personal information leak has caused our customers.” 

–Harold Rogers, Interim CEO at Coupang

The South Korean company said all affected customers can check their eligibility on the Coupang app starting January 15, 2026. Eligible customers can apply for the offer when purchasing products. Further details will be announced separately.

Meanwhile, Rogers believes that the incident is an opportunity for his company to practice customer-focused service provision and fulfill its responsibility to the end. Coupang has also warned its customers not to click on random links from suspicious sources and to report any unknown activity. The company further urged its customers to exercise caution against text messages and phone calls that impersonate Coupang.

Seoul police identify Chinese national as main suspect

The Seoul National Police Agency identified a 43-year-old Chinese national, who was a former employee, as the primary suspect. The suspect had worked at Coupang from November 2022 to 2024, somehow retaining access to internal systems.

The Second Vice Minister Ryu Je-myung said the attacker used the company’s electronic coupon key, which is required to access Coupang’s servers. Meanwhile, the investigations revealed that the data breach lasted from late June to early November. 

The incident has also led to an increase in phishing activity, with several reports of Coupang impersonation. The Seoul police have reportedly been gathering records, including internal documents, logs, system records, user credentials, access histories, and IP addresses, to understand how the suspect gained access to the company’s system.

Meanwhile, a major customer exodus is underway as the company continues to face intense government and legal scrutiny. Nearly two-thirds of South Korea’s population is reportedly affected by the recent data breach. 

Data retrieved from the IGAWorks-owned data analytics platform, Mobile Index, revealed that Coupang’s daily active users (DAUs) declined from the record high of 17.99 million on December 1 to 15.94 million on December 6. Mobile Index said the reversal followed a short period of surge in app traffic as customers rushed to either delete their accounts or change their passwords. 

Some of the South Korean customers appear to have moved to rival companies, such as Gmarket, which saw its DAUs jump by 5.8% from 1.36 million to 1.43 million between November 29 and December 5. 11th Street also saw a 14.33% increase in traffic, while Naver Plus Store’s traffic ROSE 23.1%.

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