South Korea hits Coupang with $400M+ fine for data breach that affected millions
South Korean authorities have imposed a record-breaking fine of $624 billion won (over $400 million) on retail giant Coupang after a data breach last year compromised the personal data of more than 34 million customers.
Seoul’s Personal Information Protection Commission issued the maximum penalty on Thursday following discovery of the breach in December 2025. The retail giant, which is headquartered in the U.S. but popular in South Korea and likened to the “Amazon of Asia,” had said the months-long data breach allowed a former employee to obtain names, email and shipping addresses, phone numbers and order histories of about two-thirds of South Korea’s population.
Coupang told BBC News that it plans to challenge the regulator’s decision. The fine represents a rare case of a financial penalty issued against a U.S.-based firm. Korean lawmakers have accusedsome of their American counterparts of imposing political pressure after reports that U.S. representatives...
Copyright of this story solely belongs to techcrunch.com. To see the full text click HERE
