Coupang Chairman Bom Kim issues apology for data leak

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Published: 27 Feb. 2026, 09:19 Updated: 27 Feb. 2026, 10:46

Coupang founder and Chairman Bom Kim in 2016 [JOONGANG DB]

Coupang founder and Chairman Bom Kim apologized on Thursday for the company’s personal data leak last year.

Although Kim released a written apology after the incident late last year, this marked the first time he addressed the matter publicly in his own voice.

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Speaking during a conference call held the same day to announce the earnings for the fourth quarter of last year, Kim said he wanted to address the massive data leak in Korea that compromised at least 30 million accounts on the e-commerce platform.

"I want to apologize again for the concern and inconvenience this has caused," Kim said. "Everything we build at Coupang has been driven by a single focus: wowing our customers. Our customers are the only reason we exist, and earning their trust is something we strive to do every single day.

"There is nothing more serious at Coupang than failing to live up to our customers' expectations," he continued. "We know we have to do better, and we will."

Coupang posted a fourth-quarter revenue of $8.84 billion last year.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM EUN-BIN [[email protected]]