The Privacy Commission's fine of approximately 201.1 billion won against Coupang has been suspended by the Seoul Administrative Court.
On November 6, the court's Administrative Division 1, led by Judge Yang Sang-yoon, granted Coupang's request to suspend the enforcement of the fine and corrective measures imposed by the Privacy Commission. The suspension will remain in effect until 30 days after the first-instance ruling on the cancellation of the fine is announced.
Last June, the Privacy Commission imposed a total fine of 624.68 billion won on Coupang, which included 423.57 billion won related to the leak of personal information of 37.55 million users and an additional 201.16 billion won for the unauthorized collection of online activity records from 11.17 million members visiting other websites and apps.
The court stated that suspending the 201.1 billion won fine was necessary to prevent irreparable harm to Coupang and that there was an urgent need for suspension. It also noted that there was no clear indication that the suspension would significantly impact public welfare or that the applicant's claims were evidently without merit.
Coupang also sought to suspend the remaining 423.5 billion won fine, but another division of the court denied that request the previous day.
The Administrative Division 4 of the Seoul Administrative Court had previously ruled that the damages Coupang would incur from the 400 billion won fine imposed by the Privacy Commission could be compensated financially, thus maintaining the enforcement of that fine.
However, the court did suspend the enforcement of the corrective and public announcement orders issued by the Privacy Commission, citing concerns over potential irreparable harm to Coupang until 30 days after the main ruling.
The corrective measures include strengthening safety protocols to prevent similar incidents, notifying affected individuals who are not members, and ensuring the effective role of the Chief Privacy Officer (CPO).
The legality of the imposed fines will be determined in the ongoing main lawsuit, separate from the suspension of enforcement.
The Privacy Commission concluded on June 11 that Coupang had failed to implement basic safety management systems, such as managing authentication signing keys and access controls, leading to the data breach.
In response, Coupang expressed regret that proactive measures to prevent secondary damage related to last year's data breach and clear factual explanations were not adequately reflected.
Furthermore, on October 7, Coupang filed a lawsuit with the Seoul Administrative Court seeking to annul the fine exceeding 600 billion won.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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