Recommendation by consumer mediation body would have resulted in W3.7tr extra payout for e-commerce giant
Coupang has rejected a recommendation by Korea’s Consumer Dispute Mediation Commission to compensate the approximately 33.7 million users impacted by the company's personal data breach late last year.
According to media reports Wednesday, the e-commerce giant notified the commission in writing last week that it would not accept the mediation recommendation to pay 100,000 won ($73) to each customer.
“After carefully reviewing the mediation recommendation, we ultimately determined that it would be difficult to accept,” Coupang said.
“This was a carefully considered decision based on a comprehensive assessment of the proactive efforts we have made so far, as well as the internal and external ramifications of accepting the recommendation.”
Under the commission’s collective dispute mediation system, acceptance of the recommendation by Coupang could have enabled other affected consumers who did not participate in the initial mediation to receive the same compensation.
In other words, it could have potentially required Coupang to pay some 3.37 trillion won in compensation, based on the number of affected customers.
In January, Coupang implemented a voluntary compensation program potentially worth nearly 1.69 trillion won, providing up to 50,000 won in shopping vouchers across its platforms to each of the 33.7 million customers whose personal information was leaked.
Civic groups have criticized Coupang’s recent decision, saying it indicates that the company intends to contest any additional liability with affected customers through civil lawsuits.
hwkan@heraldcorp.com
