Coupang Sues Over 620 Billion Won in Fines for Data Leak, Other Violations

Filed two lawsuits against the PIPC to overturn the fine orders
Also sought a stay of execution to suspend the effect of the fines

Coupang has filed a lawsuit challenging fines totaling around 620 billion won imposed over incidents including a personal information leak.

Coupang headquarters. Photo by Yoon Dongju.

According to legal sources on October 8, Coupang filed two lawsuits against the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) the previous day at the Seoul Administrative Court, seeking to overturn orders imposing fines and other measures.

The lawsuits concern fines totaling 624.6 billion won: 423.5 billion won imposed in connection with a personal information leak, and 201.1 billion won imposed for violations including the unauthorized collection of online activity records from more than 10 million members.

The PIPC approved the fines in June, and Coupang filed separate lawsuits challenging each order. It also filed for a stay of execution, seeking to suspend the effect of the fine orders.

The PIPC concluded that personal information was leaked because Coupang lacked basic security management systems, including proper management of authentication signing keys and access controls. Coupang said, “We regret that the PIPC’s decision did not sufficiently reflect the proactive measures we took to prevent secondary harm related to last year’s data leak, or our explanation based on clear facts. We hope the facts will be clearly established through legal proceedings.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.