Police summon Coupang interim CEO for questioning

(Yonhap)

South Korean police have reportedly notified Harold Rogers, interim chief executive officer (CEO) of e-commerce giant Coupang Inc. to appear for questioning.

The summon comes as the police are conducting a comprehensive investigation into various allegations involving Coupang, including a large-scale personal data breach.

According to Yonhap News on Thursday, a special task force (TF) at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, recently notified Rogers of plans to summon him as a suspect and is currently coordinating the investigation schedule.

Coupang’s top leadership, including Chairman Bom Kim, Rogers, and former CEO Park Dae-jun, has been successively targeted for complaints and investigation requests in connection with allegations of covering up industrial accidents and the personal data leak incident.

In particular, labor groups and civic organizations filed a complaint with the National Police Agency on Tuesday against Kim and Rogers, accusing them of evidence tampering, occupational negligence resulting in death, and violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, among other charges.

In a related development, the Ministry of Science and ICT confirmed on December 31 that five months’ worth of website access log data had been deleted due to negligence on the part of Coupang and referred the case to the police for investigation.

The National Assembly’s Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee also approved a motion to file a complaint against seven current and former executives, including Rogers, on Thursday on suspicion of violating the Act on Testimony and Appraisal before the National Assembly.

Rogers previously testified at the National Assembly that he met with a suspect in the personal data leak case at the direction of the Korean government, specifically the National Intelligence Service (NIS).

However, the NIS denied the claim and stated its intention to request that Rogers be charged with perjury.