Coupang to Compensate 33.7 Million Customers ₩1.685 Trillion After Data Breach

Coupang, the largest online retailer in South Korea, has agreed to provide ₩1.685 trillion worth of purchase vouchers as compensation to 33.7 million customers affected by a major data breach last year.

 

Coupang experienced a major data breach in 2025 that exposed the personal information of approximately 33.7 million users—nearly two-thirds of South Korea’s population. The breach began on June 24 and was detected on November 18, compromising sensitive data such as customer names, email addresses, phone numbers, shipping addresses, and order histories. Notably, no credit card information or login credentials were accessed. 

 

The breach was traced to a former Coupang employee—a 43-year-old Chinese national—who retained access to internal systems after leaving the company in 2024 and exploited the authentication management system, reportedly threatening to disclose the data unless security improvements were made.

 

Following the incident, Coupang’s CEO Park Dae-jun resigned and was replaced by Harold Rogers as interim CEO. South Korean police raided Coupang’s headquarters as part of an ongoing investigation, collecting digital evidence to determine the breach’s scope and cause.

 

In a recent press release on its website, Coupang said it is offering purchase vouchers worth ₩1.685 trillion, or £862 million, in compensation to 33.7 million customers whose personal data was compromised during the incident. The compensation will be distributed in phases beginning January 15 and will apply to all Coupang customers, including WOW and non-WOW members as well as former members who canceled their subscriptions.

 

“Coupang will provide each customer with four single-use purchase vouchers totaling 50,000 won [around $34]: all Coupang products, including Rocket Delivery, Rocket Overseas, Seller Rocket, and Marketplace (5,000 won), Coupang Eats (5,000 won), Coupang Travel products (20,000 won), and R.LUX products (20,000 won),” Coupang said.

 

Apologising to the affected customers, in a statement, Harold Rogers, Coupang’s interim CEO, said, “All Coupang executives and employees deeply regret the significant concern and distress the recent personal data leak has caused our customers. We have prepared a compensation plan as part of taking responsible action for our customers.

 

“Taking this incident as a turning point, Coupang will wholeheartedly embrace ‘customer-centric principles’ and fulfill its responsibilities to the very end, transforming into a company that customers can trust. We once again deeply apologise to our customers.”