Coupang Data Leak Police Investigation: Company Accused of Withholding Forensic Evidence

They handed over the evidence but kept the findings to themselves. Coupang is under fire as police reveal the e-commerce giant failed to disclose its internal analysis of a key piece of evidence linked to a massive data breach.

Coupang Data Leak Police Investigation Deepens

On December 29, 2025, Park Jeong-bo, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, described Coupang's actions as "unusual." When the company submitted a laptop belonging to a former employee suspected of the leak on Dec. 21, it remained silent about having already conducted its own forensic analysis on the device.

Forensic Secrets and 34 Million Accounts

The scale of the breach is staggering. Coupang recently admitted that a suspect used stolen security keys to access information from nearly 34 million accounts. While the company claims only 3,000 records were actually saved and later deleted, police say the exact extent of the compromise can't be confirmed until their independent analysis of the secured evidence is complete.

The fallout has been swift. Beyond the police probe, Coupang is facing a deep-dive investigation by the tax agency and an emergency meeting by the Presidential office. This comes despite a 1.69 trillion-won compensation plan and a public apology from the company's founder.