Seoul, Dec 23 (NationPress) South Korea has officially established an interagency task force (TF) aimed at probing the recent data breach at the American e-commerce powerhouse Coupang, which has impacted 33.7 million users.

This newly formed TF includes representatives from the science and labor ministries, the media regulatory body, financial authorities, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies. They convened for their inaugural meeting to uncover the details surrounding the breach, as stated by the Ministry of Science and ICT.

The task force will explore strategies for user protection and the overhaul of data security policies, according to the ministry's announcement.

Second Vice Science Minister Ryu Je-myung remarked, "The government views the Coupang incident as a significant social crisis that has eroded public trust." He further added, "Through this comprehensive task force, we will delve into the causes of the breach and ascertain accountability, all while safeguarding users and enhancing corporate social responsibility."

Ryu warned that the government would implement "strict measures" if any legal infractions by Coupang come to light during the investigation.

In November, Coupang disclosed that the personal data of its customers had been compromised, revealing that sensitive information such as names, phone numbers, email addresses, and delivery details of nearly all users were affected.

As a result of the data breach, Coupang's daily active user (DAU) count has plummeted to the 14 million range, following the company's announcement of the significant breach late last month, as indicated by recent industry statistics.

Data from MobileIndex, a platform managed by industry tracker IGAWorks, showed that Coupang's estimated DAU was around 14.88 million as of Friday. This decline marks the first instance of Coupang's daily user count dipping below 15 million since October 25, when it recorded 14.91 million users.

Throughout the three-month span from early October to the present, Coupang's daily user figures fell under 15 million only three times: during the Chuseok holiday period from October 4 to 6, on October 25, and on December 19.

On November 29, Coupang confirmed that 33.7 million customer accounts had their personal information exposed, a figure significantly higher than the 4,500 accounts initially reported to authorities on November 20. This number represents nearly two-thirds of South Korea's population.