South Korea’s biggest online retailer Coupang said on Wednesday that CEO Park Dae-jun has resigned, taking responsibility for a huge data breach at the company that has triggered a growing backlash in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
Coupang “deeply apologizes for causing concerns to the public,” the company said in a statement, adding that it will work to restore customer trust and tighten security measures to prevent another data leak.
The company said Harold Rogers, the chief administrative officer of its parent company in the United States, will take over as interim chief executive.
The retail giant suffered one of South Korea’s worst data breaches, with personal data of more than 33 million customers leaked in a breach believed to have started in June.
Coupang, which is backed by Japan’s SoftBank Group, has said the breach exposed customers’ names, email addresses, phone numbers, shipping addresses and certain order histories, but not payment details or login credentials.
Park’s resignation was announced after South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said earlier on Wednesday that the government will launch a thorough investigation and take stern action against any legal violations committed by the company.
Earlier this week, South Korean police launched a raid on the company’s office in Seoul as part of an investigation.
(Reporting by Heejin Kim; editing by Ed Davies)
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