The National Assembly refuted allegations that it acted in an “openly hostile and discriminatory manner” while holding hearings on Coupang’s data leak
Harold Rogers, the interim CEO of Coupang Korea, responds to questions from Korean lawmakers at a Dec. 31, 2025, hearing by the National Assembly’s Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee on the e-commerce site’s massive leak of customer data and other controversies at the company. (Hankyoreh file photo)
South Korea’s legislature expressed regret over a recent US House Judiciary Committee report that claimed that a parliamentary hearing held in 2025 on the Coupang data breach was “discriminatory,” saying that its assessment was based on a selective presentation of facts and that it had failed to adequately reflect the National Assembly’s constitutional authority and the procedures governing its meetings.The National Assembly Secretariat released an official statement on Friday clarifying its stance on the House Judiciary Committee’s interim report on the Coupang parliamentary hearings.The secretariat, the legislature’s administrative support organization, explained that the hearing in question was a joint hearing involving multiple standing committees held as part of the “National Assembly’s standard operating procedure for reviewing complex issues,” and “not an exception made to single out a specific corporation.”“The [House] report evaluates the nature of the hearing based solely on the remarks of some lawmakers and individual happenings during the proceedings; we believe this fails to fully reflect the overall context of the lengthy questioning session, the public’s investment in this issue and social concerns at the time, and the National Assembly’s function of overseeing state affairs,” the secretariat said. “The oath taken at the hearing, the notification of legal liability for perjury, and the adjustment of response times are all procedures that apply equally to all witnesses,” the National Assembly asserted. “Interpreting these as discriminatory measures against a certain company or witness has no basis in fact.” “We will continue to strive to ensure that the international community understands our parliamentary system and operations based on objective facts and sufficient communication while also fulfilling the duties conferred to us by the Constitution and laws to protect the personal information of our people and public interest,” the secretariat added. The National Assembly held hearings in December to question Coupang executives such as Harold Rogers, the company’s interim CEO, on a data breach at the company that involved personal information for over 30 million users in Korea. In response to such measures, the Republican members of the US House Judiciary Committee wrote in a recent report, “In these hearings, members of the National Assembly demonstrated the openly hostile and discriminatory manner in which the South Korean government treats American-owned companies.” By Choi Ha-yan, staff reporterPlease direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
