Why Did Coupang's Interim CEO Face 14-Hour Interrogation Over Perjury Allegations?
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
Seoul, Feb 7 (NationPress) Harold Rogers, the interim CEO of Coupang, made his way back early Saturday following a grueling 14-hour police interrogation regarding allegations of perjury during his testimony before the South Korean parliament last December.
Rogers faces accusations of providing false statements under oath during the parliamentary session held on December 30-31, which addressed Coupang's significant data breach impacting over 33 million customers in South Korea, as reported by Yonhap news agency.
He informed lawmakers that Coupang had undertaken its own investigation into a Chinese national suspected of involvement in the data breach and had seized his laptop following directives from the National Intelligence Service, South Korea's intelligence agency.
Authorities are expected to delve deeper into the allegations against Rogers.
Emerging from the police investigative headquarters in Mapo at 3:25 a.m., Rogers departed without responding to queries from the press.
This marks the second time Rogers has been questioned within a week as police intensify their focus on the data breach case that was revealed by the U.S.-listed e-commerce giant only in November.
Authorities are likely to summon him again for further questioning regarding potential cover-ups related to the death of a Coupang employee at a logistics center in 2020.
Rogers is anticipated to leave South Korea later this month to testify before the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary, which is investigating what it describes as South Korea's discriminatory targeting of American companies.
In a separate development, Coupang announced on Thursday that it has detected a data leak involving personal information from over 165,000 customer accounts, linked to an incident initially recognized in November.
The leaked information comprises names, phone numbers, and addresses provided by customers for shipping purposes, and Coupang has informed the affected individuals about the breach in accordance with guidelines from the state’s personal information protection authority.