Home > Business > Finance

Regulators to target companies' system security in wake of Coupang data leaks

Published: 01 Dec. 2025, 15:43 Updated: 01 Dec. 2025, 18:25

JIN MIN-JI
[email protected]

Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Gov. Lee Chan-jin speaks to reporters during a press conference held in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Dec. 1. [FSS]

Financial authorities are pushing legal amendments to strengthen companies' system security, calling it pivotal to their survival amid a recent hacking and security breach at Upbit and Coupang, the financial watchdog said on Monday.

“A regulatory and sanctions framework at least equivalent to that of the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act will be fully introduced through legal amendments to establish system security as a core and essential investment for survival,” said the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) Gov. Lee Chan-jin during a press conference held in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Monday.

The act is a comprehensive law that regulates Korea’s capital markets to ensure fair competition, protect investors and enhance market efficiency.

“Discussions are underway with financial authorities on revising the law to comprehensively strengthen areas related to consumer protection — such as system security — which have been relatively lacking,” Lee added.

A Coupang office in Songpa District, southern Seoul, on Dec. 1. The e-commerce giant suffered a massive data breach affecting more than 33 million local customer accounts. [NEWS1]

The governor's remarks followed the recent breach of personal information affecting more than 33 million users of e-commerce giant Coupang and the reportedly North Korea-linked hacking of 44.5 billion won ($30.4 million) in cryptocurrency at Upbit, Korea’s largest crypto exchange.

Several companies have suffered data breaches this year, including SK Telecom, with the SIM card information of more than 23 million mobile users hacked in April, and Lotte Card, which experienced a leak that exposed the personal information of nearly 3 million customers in August.

Korea’s investment in security systems “is extremely poor on average,” Lee added. “The investment in the sector must be reflected in costs as a necessary business expense, but companies seem to lack proper recognition of the fact that the security breach poses a level of risk that could bring down the entire company.”

Lee added that the FSS will also form a task force to enhance the transparency of financial companies’ governance, addressing concerns over excessive self-interest in executive reappointment and the potential manipulation of boards and nomination processes.

“If a particular executive artificially secures their own reappointment by filling the board with allies and populating the nomination committee with candidates who face no real competition, it becomes a very concerning issue,” Lee said. “Such practices should be publicly supervised and restrained.”

Lee also touched on the regulator's efforts to tame the weakening won against the dollar.

He said the FSS will review whether financial companies thoroughly explain risks related to overseas investment — including credit borrowing and foreign exchange exposure — and protection measures related to overseas investments.

The measure is part of a vow jointly announced with financial authorities on Monday to tame the recent weakening of the won.

Lee also noted the growing importance of the National Pension Service (NPS) — the world’s third largest pension fund — in the won's value.

“The NPS has become a dinosaur in the foreign exchange market,” Lee said. “How society will accept this fact — which could exacerbate asset polarization and detrimentally affect people’s salaries [depending on the won’s movement] — has become an issue that needs to be discussed publicly.”

To tame the growing influence of the NPS on the foreign exchange market, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Bank of Korea and the NPS formed a consultative body and held their first meeting last week. The body was formed to assess the impact of expanded NPS investments overseas on the foreign exchange market and to strengthen coordination among the participating parties.

Regarding the recent 2 trillion won in record penalties reportedly imposed on five banks for the mis-selling of equity-linked securities products tracking Hong Kong’s Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, Lee said it is “a leading case” and carries “symbolic significance” of the regulator’s strong commitment to consumer protection.

BY JIN MIN-JI [[email protected]]