Seoul: The government announced plans to establish an interagency task force to address the recent data breach at e-commerce leader Coupang Corp. The breach has affected a significant number of customer accounts, prompting the government to take decisive action.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the decision was made during a meeting of science and technology-related ministers, led by Science Minister Bae Kyung-hoon. The task force will be spearheaded by Ryu Je-myung, the second vice minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, and will include members from various organizations such as the Personal Information Protection Committee, the Korea Media Communications Commission, and the Financial Services Commission.

The task force is set to conduct both regular and ad hoc meetings to facilitate the sharing of information from ongoing police and government investigations. Additionally, the task force aims to discuss measures to enhance Coupang's accountability concerning the breach. This initiative follows the government's commitment to enforce strict actions against Coupang after the company acknowledged that the personal information of 33.7 million customer accounts had been compromised.

Coupang has faced criticism for its insufficient response to the breach and its unyielding attitude towards Korean authorities. During a recent parliamentary hearing, Harold Rogers, the interim CEO of Coupang, apologized for the incident. However, he did not provide comprehensive plans regarding customer compensation or improvements in data security.