Coupang's customer data breach has exposed numerous problems. 33.67 million customer records, including 148 million shipping addresses, were leaked. This represents a data breach affecting 65 percent of the country's 52 million residents. Given the minors do not have credit cards and can't join, this really represents almost every household in the country. This grave problem reveals the magnitude of cybersecurity unpreparedness of Coupang. It amounts to negligence in the country where 90 percent of its business takes place.

Coupang has demonstrated inappropriate behavior to the dissatisfaction and anger of its customers. Rather than offering a public apology for poor customer data management and cybersecurity unpreparedness, Coupang blamed an employee, emphasizing his Chinese nationality and attempting to play on anti-China sentiment in Korea and the United States.

The National Assembly summoned Coupang CEO Kim Bom-suk multiple times to hearings, only to receive disrespectful refusals. Instead, a newly appointed CEO who speaks no Korean came to the National Assembly hearings and maintained a "know-nothing" stance. His attitude, misinformation and lack of measures to improve Coupang's cybersecurity preparedness further angered the nation, causing customers to choose to leave Coupang. It has lost the hearts of Koreans.

Concurrently, a different story floats around in Washington, with groundless assertions such as that there were only 3000 cases of customer data breach and that the Korean government is overreacting and discriminating against an American tech company. Coupang is certainly an e-commerce company, but not a tech company. No clear logic has been offered as to how Coupang is being discriminated against. If a similar customer data breach of this scale happened in the United States, would it be tolerated or dismissed as discrimination? Coupang’s cybersecurity unpreparedness has nothing to do with nationality or origin. Its business activities center in Korea, not the United States. Regardless, businesses should be held accountable for cybersecurity, unfair actions and illegal practices.

The U.S. government and Congress is misled if they believe Coupang's assertions and claims, which are misinformation. Anyone arguing for Coupang being discriminated against without understanding the nature and magnitude of the problem runs a risk of applying an illogical double standard. This must stop — markets and capitalism value consistency.

Korean authorities' initial response left something to be desired, too. Instead of trying to put all other Coupang-related issues into the same basket, they should have focused on dealing with cybersecurity unpreparedness.

The Korean government should also strengthen its law enforcement capabilities. Highly publicized illegal activities often end up costing companies just a fraction of the original fines due to weak law enforcement. This applies to not just foreign entities but domestic ones as well. Let us not lose sight of the lessons of the 2001 Enron scandal which erased the company from the corporate scene for good.

It is also worth noting that the Korean government and business lack adequate explanations and public relations efforts. Korea's weak public relations in Washington and elsewhere is not a fresh problem. It is perennial and further highlighted when an incident of significance occurs. Despite numerous comments and criticisms from both domestic and international stakeholders, improvements remain meager.

Especially on the back of tariff negotiations, there is great need for a Korean agency with the mandate to improve public relations. It needs to be an efficient one, headed by capable leadership with a deep understanding of policies and issues, analytical skills and both Korean and English language skills.

In the past, the Washington office of the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) played a role of promoting Korea by providing information and engaging with stakeholders. Korea cannot afford to leave Washington deprived of good information and exchanges. The FKI should re-open its Washington office, but must have capable leadership.

Source: Korea Times News