Coupang has rejected a mediation proposal from the Consumer Dispute Settlement Commission under the Korea Consumer Agency that called for the company to pay 100,000 won (about $72) in compensation to each customer affected by a personal data breach late last year.
According to the retail industry on the 16th, Coupang notified the commission in writing on the 11th of this month that it would not accept the proposal. "We carefully reviewed the mediation proposal but ultimately concluded that acceptance would be difficult," the company said. "This was a careful decision made after comprehensively considering the preemptive efforts we have made so far, along with the internal and external ripple effects of accepting the proposal."
The commission received a collective dispute mediation request from about 50 consumers over last year's data breach and, after deliberation, found that Coupang should pay damages for emotional distress. The proposal included a condition that victims who did not take part in the mediation would receive the same compensation if Coupang accepted it. Under that scenario, Coupang would have had to pay 3.7 trillion won (about $2.7 billion) in total damages.
Coupang is seen as having concluded that it could not accept the proposal because it had already issued 50,000-won purchase vouchers to 33.7 million people following the data breach.
