Police review possible arrest warrant for Coupang’s interim CEO over data leak

SEOUL - The South Korean police said on Jan 26 that they are reviewing whether to seek an arrest warrant for the interim chief executive of e-commerce giant Coupang, after he failed to comply with repeated requests to appear for questioning.

Mr Park Jung-bo, commissioner of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, told a news briefing that the authorities estimate

more than 30 million customer accounts were affected in a massive data breach

at the e-commerce company.

Asked whether Coupang attempted to downplay the extent of the breach, Mr Park said the police would review the company’s explanation but added that “what we have discovered differs from what Coupang has stated”.

Coupang previously said, after conducting its own investigation of the incident, that a former Chinese employee accessed basic information from 33 million customer accounts using a stolen security key but stole data from only about 3,000 accounts.

The police, however, believe information from more than 30 million accounts was leaked.

The authorities said they have nearly completed forensic analysis of digital devices related to Coupang’s internal investigation. The leaked information reportedly includes customers’ names, addresses and e-mail addresses.

Coupang’s interim CEO Harold Rogers has failed to comply with their first and second summonses issued on Jan 5 and Jan 14, respectively, the police said.

After the second summons was ignored, the police issued a third request for Mr Rogers to appear. The date of the request was not disclosed.

Asked whether the police would seek an arrest warrant if Mr Rogers again fails to appear, Mr Park said the authorities would first review the reasons for his absence.

“We do not seek arrest warrants unconditionally,” he said. “We must examine why he does not comply even after a third summons.”

Mr Rogers left the country on Dec 31 after attending a two-day parliamentary hearing.

Mr Park said that all individuals are required to follow standard legal procedures and that the police could seek an arrest warrant if the legal requirements were met. The South Korean authorities may seek an arrest warrant if a suspect repeatedly refuses to appear for questioning without sufficient justification.

The police are also continuing to investigate the former employee suspected of causing the data breach. The authorities requested his repatriation through Interpol but have not received a response, Mr Park said.

“There are limitations because the suspect is a foreign national,” Park said. “Interpol does not have enforcement power, so without cooperation from the relevant country, it is difficult. However, we are working towards bringing the individual back to South Korea to hold him accountable under South Korean law.” THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK