Alarm: Coupang Data Breach Exposes 33.7 Million Users—Over Half of South Korea

A major data breach has struck Coupang, one of South Korea’s most prominent e-commerce platforms, exposing 33.7 million user records—more than half of the country’s population of 51.66 million. The company initially believed only about 4,500 accounts were affected, but a deeper investigation revealed that virtually the entire user base had been exposed.

Investigators found that the unauthorised access began as early as 24 June 2025, with the database apparently connected to an overseas server and data exfiltrated from that foreign host. The leaked information includes customers’ names, email addresses, phone numbers, delivery addresses, and parts of their order histories, though Coupang says no financial information was breached. The firm has severed the unauthorised access pathway and appointed an independent security firm to conduct a forensic analysis.

Following a South Korean authorities’ enquiry, a primary suspect has been identified—a former Coupang employee no longer residing in the country, making questioning potentially challenging.