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Coupang's Kim Bom to be absent from parliamentary hearing on data breach

Published: 14 Dec. 2025, 19:30

Kim Bom, founder and CEO of Seattle-based Coupang [JOONGANG ILBO]

CEO of Seattle-based Coupang Kim Bom submitted a written explanation to the National Assembly regarding his absence from a parliamentary hearing on the e-commerce company’s recent data breach, citing scheduling conflicts.

Kim submitted the letter on Sunday to the National Assembly’s Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee. The hearing on Coupang is scheduled for Wednesday.

“Because of unavoidable official business schedules as the CEO of a global company operating in over 170 countries, I am unable to attend the hearing,” Kim said in his letter.

Kim's decision comes after Coupang disclosed on Nov. 29 that personal information belonging to about 33.7 million customer accounts, including names, email addresses, phone numbers and home addresses, had been exposed.

Former Coupang CEOs Park Dae-jun and Kang Han-seung, who were also summoned as witnesses, said they will not attend the hearing either.

Park said he had already appeared before the same committee for two days and the National Policy Committee for three days to answer all questions within his knowledge regarding the Coupang data breach.

"I have since resigned as Coupang’s CEO and no longer hold a position that allows me to represent the company’s stance at a hearing," Park said in his letter of explanation.

Kang also cited his resignation as grounds for nonattendance.

"I stepped down as CEO at the end of May, before the incident occurred, and now I live and work in the United States," he said. "I lack direct knowledge of the case and cannot represent the company’s position six months after leaving my post."

Kim, meanwhile, has not released any official statement on the data leak incident as of press time Sunday.

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 NOH YU-RIM [[email protected]]