Coupang CEO resigns after data breach exposing 34 million people

The chief executive of Coupang has resigned after a massive data breach exposed the personal information of more than half of South Korea’s population, marking one of the country’s most serious corporate security failures this year.

Park Dae-jun stepped down on Tuesday, apologising for the incident and saying he carried a “deep sense of responsibility for the outbreak and the subsequent recovery process,” according to a company statement cited by local media.

Coupang named Harold Rogers, the top lawyer at its US-based parent company, as Park’s successor. The company said Rogers would oversee efforts to stabilise operations and tighten security controls following the breach.

Coupang, often described by analysts as South Korea’s equivalent of Amazon for its dominance in e-commerce and logistics, first disclosed last month that customer information had been compromised. According to Reuters, the company initially reported that around 4,500 users had been affected, but a subsequent investigation revealed that nearly 34 million people—close to two-thirds of the country—had personal data exposed.

The intrusion reportedly began in June but went undetected for several months. The Wall Street Journal reported that the scale of the breach, and the delay in identifying it, have intensified questions about Coupang’s internal safeguards and whether South Korea’s broader corporate sector remains vulnerable to increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks.

The incident adds to a troubling year for the country’s digital infrastructure. South Korea has faced a series of high-profile security lapses, including a government data centre fire that resulted in the irretrievable loss of key public records. Regulators have warned that both private and public institutions must strengthen their resilience as threats escalate.

Park’s resignation underscores the mounting pressure on boards and executives in Asia’s largest digital economies to take direct accountability for cybersecurity shortcomings. Analysts said the appointment of Rogers, a legal and compliance specialist, signals a shift toward more rigorous oversight and governance across Coupang’s sprawling operations.

The company said it will continue investigating the breach while implementing steps to prevent further compromise. Investors will be watching whether the leadership change restores confidence and how Coupang balances rapid growth with the heightened expectation of data security.