“Coupang class action lawsuit in the U.S. exceeds 1,000 participants… You can participate if you have ever placed an order.”

Daeryun Law Firm Represented Class Action Lawsuit
“Compensation amount will be much more realistic than Korea’s”

A class action lawsuit is being filed in the United States against Coupang, which suffered a large-scale personal information leak reaching 33.7 million items. Daeryun Law Firm, which represented the lawsuit, said that the number of people participating in the lawsuit has already exceeded 1,000, and that any member who has ordered at least once from Coupang can participate in the lawsuit.

Attorney Dong-hoo Son from SJKP, Daeryun's local U.S. subsidiary, said on CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyun-jeong's News Show' on the 10th, "Regarding this personal information leak, we are filing a consumer class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against Coupang Inc, the parent company of Coupang's Korean corporation," and added, "Coupang Inc is a corporation in the U.S. state of Delaware, a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, and owns 100% of Coupang Korea. “It is a company that owns it,” he said.

In response to the host's question, 'Can only people with American nationality participate in the lawsuit?', he responded, "The victim's residence is not important. Those in Korea and those in foreign countries other than Korea can participate in the lawsuit in the U.S. Federal Court if they have suffered damages." Regarding the size of the compensation amount, he explained, "It is difficult to tell you the amount itself," but "I will tell you that the compensation amount is much more realistic than in Korea."

In an interview with MBC Radio on the same day, Kim Kook-il, CEO of Daeryun Management, said, "Until yesterday's press conference, (the number of people participating in the lawsuit) was about 200, but it has already exceeded 1,000." CEO Kim said, "Any member who has ordered at least once from Coupang can participate in this lawsuit. In the United States, there is an 'opt-out' system, so even if you were not a plaintiff in this lawsuit, you will receive compensation according to the judgment unless you give up your rights. However, there will be a difference in the amount of compensation for those who participated as direct plaintiffs and those who were not plaintiffs."

Regarding the reason for pursuing a compensation lawsuit in the United States rather than Korea, he explained, "Compensation in Korea only proves what kind of damage there is and compensates for the damage. Compensation in the United States has the meaning of punishment. When damage is caused by anti-social corporate activities, not only compensation for the damage, but also retaliatory compensation for the negligence that created the damage. It is meant as a deterrent to prevent such incidents from happening in the future."

He added, "What I want is to use the 'discovery (evidence discovery)' process in this lawsuit. This is because we can secure emails exchanged between Coupang's U.S. headquarters and Coupang Korea, reports, meeting materials, and decisions made by the board of directors. This content will be more reliable and more extensive than what will be revealed through the investigation in Korea. If there is any information related to corporate security system management, I want to secure it."

Reporter Lim Joo-hyung skepped@asiae.co.kr

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