Alphabiz - Coupang Chairman Bom Kim Faces Mounting Calls for Accountability Amid Parliamentary No-Show

Photo courtesy of Yonhap News

[Alpha Biz= Kim Young Taek] Seoul, South Korea — Calls for legal action are growing within the National Assembly’s National Policy Committee as Bom Kim, Chairman of Coupang Inc., has repeatedly refused to appear before lawmakers, citing overseas residence and travel. His continued absence from both the annual audit and an emergency parliamentary inquiry on the recent 33.7 million–account personal data breach has intensified demands that he be referred for prosecution.

During an emergency inquiry session, Rep. Yoon Han-hong of the People Power Party, who chairs the committee, expressed strong dissatisfaction, stating, “As committee chair, I express my deep regret over Chairman Kim’s refusal to attend.”

Rep. Shin Jang-sik of the Rebuilding Korea Party argued that Kim is evading parliamentary summons by citing his U.S. citizenship and Coupang Inc.’s status as a U.S.-listed company. “He also failed to appear at this year’s audit, claiming he was overseas. Chairman Kim must be referred for prosecution,” Shin insisted.

Rep. Kang Min-kook of the People Power Party also criticized Kim, saying that despite generating substantial revenue using Korean infrastructure and Korean consumers’ data, he has avoided responsibility for a major data leak that occurred in Korea.

Coupang Korea CEO Park Dae-joon added that he “has not met Chairman Kim even once this year,” fueling criticism that the crisis was “an accident waiting to happen.”

Alphabiz 김영택 기자(sitory0103@alphabiz.co.kr)