SEOUL, December 01 (AJP) - Coupang’s latest data leak has renewed scrutiny of the South Korean e-commerce giant, underscoring concerns that its operational systems have not kept pace with its rapid expansion.
The company said on Monday that 33.7 million user accounts were affected — an extraordinary figure showing the breach could have affected nearly the country's entire population.
The disclosure comes as Coupang remains under pressure over workplace safety following a string of deaths among night-shift workers at its logistics facilities. On Nov. 26, a man in his 50s was found dead during an overnight shift at a center in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province.
Five days earlier, a worker in his 30s suffered cardiac arrest at a facility in Hwaseong and later died in hospital.
They were the third and fourth night-shift fatalities at Coupang this year. Since 2020, at least 27 deaths among the company’s warehouse and delivery workers have been reported by South Korean media.
Despite the mounting operational controversies, Coupang has grown into one of the most valuable companies in Asia. The company’s market capitalization reached $51.4 billion as of Monday, far outpacing the $35 billion valuation of Hyundai Motor Group. If listed domestically, Coupang would rank as South Korea’s fourth most valuable firm, behind Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and LG Energy Solution.
Coupang reported record third-quarter revenue of 13.6 trillion won ($9.2 billion) in 2025, along with operating profit of 238 billion won. Active customers — defined as those making at least one purchase — rose 10 percent from a year earlier to 24.7 million, driven by increased spending in its core Rocket Delivery service.
Founded in 2010 by Korean-American entrepreneur Bom Kim, Coupang began as a social commerce startup selling discounted attraction tickets before pivoting to full e-commerce.
The launch of Rocket Delivery in 2014 — backed by massive investments in proprietary logistics centers — reshaped Korea’s retail landscape with next-day and overnight fulfillment. The model initially generated widening losses but delivered exponential growth, helping the company build an 80-percent nationwide coverage footprint and a logistics network spanning 55 million square feet.
Rocket Delivery and its offshoots — Dawn Delivery and Rocket Fresh, launched in 2018 — have driven sharp increases in customer loyalty and order volume.
Coupang posted its first annual profit in 2023 after 13 consecutive years of losses. Revenue reached an all-time high of 41.3 trillion won ($28.1 billion) in 2024 — more than 86 times its 2013 disclosure of 477.8 billion won.
Active customers grew from 14.85 million in 2020 to 22.8 million in 2024.
Coupang entered the Fortune 200 in 2023 and 2024 and advanced into the Fortune 150 in 2025 — cementing its status among the world’s largest companies even as it confronts intensifying scrutiny over data security and labor practices.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.
