South Korean e-commerce platform Coupang disclosed over the weekend that nearly 34 million customers’ personal information had been exposed in a data breach that lasted more than five months.
The company initially detected the unauthorized access to 4,500 user accounts on November 18. However, an investigation later revealed that around 33.7 million customer accounts were actually compromised.
According to Coupang, the breach involved customers’ names, email addresses, phone numbers, shipping addresses, and some order histories. Fortunately, more sensitive information such as payment details, credit card numbers, and login credentials was not affected and remains secure.
Coupang has reported the incident to the Korea Internet Security Agency (KISA), the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC), and the National Police Agency.
As one of South Korea’s largest e-commerce platforms, Coupang also provides a quick-commerce service called “Rocket Delivery” and operates its marketplace in Japan and Taiwan. A spokesperson for Coupang informed TechCrunch that the investigation found no evidence that customer data from Coupang Taiwan or Rocket Now was involved in the breach.
“According to our investigation, unauthorized access to personal information is believed to have started on June 24, 2025, through overseas servers,” the company stated. “Coupang has blocked the unauthorized access route, enhanced internal monitoring, and engaged experts from a leading independent security firm.”
Reports indicate that police have identified at least one suspect: a former Chinese Coupang employee now residing abroad, following an investigation that began after the November 18 report.
This incident adds to a series of cybersecurity issues South Korea has faced this year. Coupang has experienced several data breaches in the past, affecting customer and delivery driver information. Notably, past leaks occurred between 2020 and 2021, and most recently in December 2023, when its seller management system compromised the personal information of over 22,000 customers.
