Announcement posted on Coupang's homepage.

Coupang's stock price closed at $24.27 on the New York Stock Exchange on the 26th (local time), a 6.45% surge from the previous trading day.

Although the stock price plummeted immediately after the announcement of the security incident, buying interest flowed in as the company launched its own investigation, revealing that the damage was less than initially feared and earning market praise for having "no competitors."

Coupang announced that the number of leaked accounts was only about 3,000, contrary to initial concerns, and there was no evidence of leakage to a third party. In this process, Coupang stated that it identified a former employee who leaked customer information by utilizing forensic evidence such as digital fingerprints.

Through this investigation, it was revealed that the leaker accessed approximately 33 million customer account details using stolen security keys, but the actual stored information was around 3,000 accounts, with only 2,609 of these including main entrance passwords.

Furthermore, it was found that there was no access to or external data transmission of payment information, login information, or personal customs clearance codes.

Coupang is known to have met with the leaker in China and retrieved the laptop by dispatching divers into a Chinese river.

Coupang stated in its announcement, "This investigation was not an 'internal investigation.' It was a joint investigation conducted in close cooperation with the government every day over several weeks, following government directives. We wish to clarify the facts regarding our cooperative relationship with the government."

In response, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) appeared to distance itself, stating, "We discussed with Coupang, but did not issue directives."

This stance is understood to be because the NIS, being an intelligence agency rather than a law enforcement agency, could be accused of issuing an 'illegal investigative directive' if it had ordered a private company to retrieve evidence.

In relation to this, disputes over investigative directives are expected to continue between Coupang and the government in the future.

Reporter Lim Yo-hee