Intelligence service asks parliament to charge Coupang interim chief with perjury

Korea's National Intelligence Service on Tuesday requested that the National Assembly charge Coupang interim CEO Harold Rogers with perjury in a stern response to claims that the NIS meddled in the corporate investigation into a recent data leak.

Coupang interim CEO Harold Rogers, center, takes an oath during a parliamentary hearing at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Dec. 30. [NEWS1]

Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) on Tuesday requested that the National Assembly charge Coupang interim CEO Harold Rogers with perjury over claims that the NIS meddled in the corporate investigation into a recent data leak.

The spy agency’s request came hours after Rogers testified during a parliamentary hearing on the breach that the e-commerce platform's investigation was conducted in accordance with instructions from the NIS.

On Nov. 29, Coupang acknowledged a massive breach of personal data of some 33.7 million accounts. While the platform later revised the figure down to some 3,000 accounts after it conducted an investigation, the Ministry of Science and ICT said it had confirmed the leakage of data belonging to more than 33 million users, including their names and email addresses, through a joint public-private probe on Tuesday.

The NIS requested “that the parliamentary hearing, which holds the authority to file formal accusations, charge the Coupang representative with perjury according to the first provision of the 14th article of the Act on Testimony and Appraisal before the National Assembly,” according to a press release from the NIS.

Under the law, witnesses who make a false statement or appraisal as part of a sworn testimony face a punishment of not less than one year but not more than 10 years.

Coupang trucks parked at a logistics center in downtown Seoul on Dec. 30. [NEWS1]

Regarding Coupang’s investigation, Rogers said, “The government agency instructed us, and we did what the government agency told us to do.” However, the NIS dismissed his claim.

In its statement, the spy intelligence said, “Besides requesting materials, it has never ordered, instructed nor permitted any actions by Coupang, and the agency is not in a position to take such an action.”

Addressing a question about who within Coupang instructed its investigation team to contact the suspect behind the leak, Rogers claimed that “the Korean government directly instructed our team, who went and spoke to him,” but NIS said it “reiterated multiple times that Coupang should make a final judgment” regarding whether to contact the suspect.

The interim chief also said that Coupang made a forensic copy of the hard drive on the suspect's computer under instruction by the Korean government.

The NIS, however, stated that the company had already copied an image on Dec. 15, two days before the intelligence agency made contact.

"The agency was not aware that the copy had been made until communicating with Coupang” on Dec. 17, the NIS added.

The NIS also dismissed Rogers’s claim that the agency possesses a copied version of the drive and gave an additional copy for Coupang, while the original copy was delivered to the police.

However, the NIS did not explain how it had communicated with Coupang regarding contact with the suspect.

The NIS issued a stern warning "that the remarks from Coupang’s representatives present a grave issue that undermines the credibility of the state agency.”

BY HYEON YE-SEUL [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]