Seoul: Founder of South Korea's e-commerce giant Coupang, Kim Bom-suk, apologised on Sunday over a data leak that shook confidence among more than 30 million customers.
The apology follows revelations that customer data at Coupang had been leaked by a former employee, prompting a police search of the company earlier this month amid mounting public backlash over what critics described as efforts to play down the incident.
Kim's repeated refusals to appear before a parliamentary hearing have added further frustration.
The personal data of more than 33 million customers -- about two-thirds of South Korea's population -- had been affected.
But Coupang has said that only 3,000 customer records were involved, a figure authorities have yet to confirm.
"We have caused significant concern and inconvenience to our customers and the public due to the personal data breach," Kim said in a statement posted on the company's website on Sunday, his first direct message on the matter since it emerged a month ago.
"I sincerely apologise for the inadequate initial response and lack of communication."
Kim said he initially believed it would be best to wait to issue a public apology until all the facts surrounding the leak had been confirmed.
"In retrospect, it was a wrong judgement."
Reiterating Coupang's claim, Kim said it had been confirmed that the customer information stored on the suspect's computer was limited to 3,000 records, which he said had not been leaked or sold externally.
"Coupang has recently completed the full recovery of 100 percent of the leaked customer information in cooperation with the government," he said.
Seoul police have said the leak occurred through Coupang's overseas servers between June 24 and November 8.
According to police and local media, the company became aware of the breach only last month, when it filed a complaint against the alleged culprit -- a former employee who is a Chinese national.
The suspect has not yet been apprehended.
Coupang is now facing a class-action lawsuit in the United States, where its global headquarters is located and it is listed on the stock market, over the breach.
While Kim has apologised publicly for the first time, he has declined to attend parliamentary hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday, citing scheduling conflicts and his overseas residence, said Choi Min-hee, the lawmaker set to chair the sessions.
"What schedule could be more important than this?" Choi wrote in a Facebook post, calling Kim's refusal "a disregard for, and mockery of, the parliament".
