Coupang Inc. founder Kim Bom-suk has said he would not appear for a parliamentary hearing this week over the e-commerce giant's massive data breach that affected nearly 34 million people, lawmakers said Sunday.
Kim, the chair of Coupang's board, submitted a statement on his non-appearance for the hearing scheduled Wednesday, according to Democratic Party (DP) lawmakers of the parliamentary science, ICT, broadcasting, and communications committee.
Park Dae-jun and Kang Han-seung, former CEOs of the U.S.-listed company's Korean unit, also notified the lawmakers of their non-appearance.
Late last month, Coupang disclosed that the personal information of 33.7 million customers had been compromised, including their names, phone numbers, email addresses and delivery details, sparking scrutiny from lawmakers of the company's practices.
"Those responsible at Coupang have shunned the public and the National Assembly and chose to run away," the DP lawmakers said, vowing to push for legislation that would prevent executives of large platform companies from evading responsibility.
Rep. Choi Min-hee, head of the parliamentary science committee, posted the non-appearance statements from Kim and the former CEOs on her Facebook page.
Kim's statement said he was unable to appear for the hearing due to official business commitments as a CEO of a global company. (Yonhap)