Seoul: E-commerce giant Coupang Inc. unveiled a compensation plan valued at over 1.68 trillion won (US$1.17 billion) following a significant personal data breach. This announcement follows Coupang founder Kim Bom-suk's public apology for the breach impacting nearly two-thirds of South Korea's population.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the U.S.-listed company plans to distribute 50,000 won in discounts and coupons to each of 33.7 million affected customers. This includes members of Coupang Wow, regular users, and even former customers who have closed their accounts. The compensation will be rolled out gradually starting January 15, as outlined in a company press release.

Coupang's interim CEO, Harold Rogers, emphasized the company's commitment to adopting customer-centric principles and rebuilding trust. The compensation breakdown includes 5,000 won for Coupang's e-commerce platform, 5,000 won for Coupang Eats, 20,000 won for travel products, and 20,000 won for R.LUX luxury beauty and fashion products.

The breach was attributed to a former employee, who was identified through forensic evidence. Coupang claimed that data from approximately 3,000 accounts were saved and later deleted by the suspect. Despite these claims, the government has dismissed them as "unilateral," as a joint investigation is still underway.

The breach was confirmed on November 29, revealing that personal information from 33.7 million accounts was compromised, far surpassing the initial report of 4,500 accounts. The data breach involved users' names, phone numbers, email addresses, and delivery addresses, suggesting the scale of the breach affected nearly the entire user base of Coupang's product commerce division.