Critics say most benefits are tied to lesser-used services, limiting plan’s real value for customers
Coupang said Monday it will roll out a 1.685 trillion won ($1.2 billion) compensation package — worth roughly 10 percent of its quarterly sales — in an effort to restore customer trust after a major data breach.
Starting Jan. 15, the company will distribute 50,000-won vouchers to 33.7 million users whose personal data was compromised in late November. The compensation will also be provided to users who closed their accounts after the breach.
The compensation package includes a 5,000-won coupon usable on the main Coupang platform, a 5,000-won voucher for its food delivery service Coupang Eats, and two 20,000-won vouchers: one for Coupang Travel and one for the luxury platform R.LUX.
Coupang reported 12.8 trillion won in revenue and 224.5 billion won in operating profit in the third quarter.
Harold Rogers, interim CEO of Coupang, apologized to customers Monday, vowing that Coupang will become a responsible company customers can trust.
Coupang’s compensation plan, however, drew sharp criticism from the Korean National Council of Consumer Organizations, which dismissed it as a superficial gesture aimed at easing public backlash rather than offering meaningful redress.
The group argued that providing uniform vouchers to all affected users could be used as a legal shield in future disputes, rather than as genuine compensation. It noted that in past large-scale data breaches involving telecom and credit card firms, individual payouts typically ranged from 100,000 to 300,000 won.
The KNCCO also criticized the structure of the compensation, saying much of it functions as a marketing tool. With a large portion of the vouchers usable only on less frequently used services, the group said the plan effectively pushes customers to spend more on Coupang’s platforms rather than providing substantive restitution for the breach.
The compensation plan came a day after Coupang founder and board chair Bom Kim issued his first apology since the data breach occurred.
Kim, who holds majority voting rights in the New York-listed Coupang Inc. — which wholly owns Korean Coupang — acknowledged that the lack of clear communication and early responses brought disappointment to customers affected by the personal information leak.
As his personal apology came nearly a month after the incident, Kim admitted that although he had been doing his best to prevent secondary damages instead of simply apologizing, it would have been better to have expressed his regret at the start.
Kim told the National Assembly that he will not be able to attend the two-day parliamentary hearing on the data breach set for Tuesday and Wednesday, citing prescheduled commitments. Coupang Vice President Kim Yoo-seok, the younger brother of the founder, also said he would not be able to attend the hearings due to scheduling conflicts.
hwkan@heraldcorp.com
