On June 11, 2026, according to South Korean media Korea Economic Daily, the Personal Information Protection Commission decided to impose an administrative fine of 624.681 billion won (approximately 65.98 billion yen) and a penalty payment of 16.8 million won on Coupang, South Korea's largest online retailer, which leaked approximately 37.5 million pieces of personal information. This amount is said to be comparable to the company's operating profit of 679 billion won last year.

According to the industry, it is a general accounting principle that when an administrative fine is finalized, companies record the amount as an expense for the current period. Coupang recorded an operating loss of 354.5 billion won in the first quarter of this year (January-March), reflecting compensation costs to users related to the personal information leak. If the administrative fine is also recorded as an expense, it is highly likely that the company will record a deficit for two consecutive quarters.

Furthermore, the company is proceeding with an expansion of its logistics infrastructure, investing 3 trillion won between 2024 and 2027. The industry believes that if the deterioration in profitability is prolonged, such investment plans could also be hindered.

On the other hand, there are also criticisms that there are issues with the fairness of the current method for calculating administrative fines. Under the current Personal Information Protection Act, administrative fines are calculated based on the average sales of a company over the past three years, but it has been pointed out that the system allows company size to determine the severity of the sanction, rather than the sensitivity of the leaked information or the actual extent of the damage.

Regarding this article, comments from South Korean netizens include: 'Coupang, stop doing business in South Korea and go back to your home country.' 'Was this trash company, which can't even protect customer personal information, still making money?' 'Coupang is also bad, but it was Chinese people who leaked it.' 'They can't say anything to China, but they're taking an administrative fine from Coupang, which was victimized. The biggest victims are the members, so why is the government extorting money?' 'If Coupang were a Chinese company, it definitely wouldn't have been treated this way.' and other comments were received. (Translation/Editing: Asaé)