Coupang boosts cybersecurity spending to record high as Korean retailers respond to data breaches
Coupang boosts cybersecurity spending to record high as Korean retailers respond to data breaches
Publish Date: 2026-07-02 18:02:00
Source Domain: www.koreajoongangdaily.com
Major online platforms are ramping up investments after high-profile cases of stolen data raised pressure to better protect consumer and payment information.
Coupang’s office in Songpa District, southern Seoul
NEWS1
Major retailers have increased spending on cybersecurity as a series of data breaches and hacking incidents heightened concerns over the protection of consumers’ personal and payment information.
Coupang invested 134.9 billion won ($86.6 million) in information security in 2025, according to filings uploaded to the Korea Internet & Security Agency website on Tuesday. The figure is up 51.6 percent from 89 billion won a year earlier, and marks the first time the company’s annual information security investment exceeded 100 billion won.
The figures cover only Coupang in Korea and do not include investments by the company’s subsidiaries or overseas affiliates.
Last year, Coupang made a total investment in information technology (IT) worth 2.57 trillion won, up 34.2 percent from 1.92 trillion won the previous year. Information security spending accounted for 5.2 percent of the company’s IT investment, up 0.6 percentage points from 4.6 percent a year earlier.
The company also expanded its dedicated information security work force. The company employed 370.1 full-time equivalent information security personnel as of last year: 204.8 in-house employees and 165.3 outsourced employees. The information security work force rose 75 percent from the previous year, far outpacing the company’s overall workforce growth of 7.4 percent during the same period.
Other major retailers also maintained or increased cybersecurity investment.
Emart raised its information security spending by about 33 percent to 8.1 billion won from 6.1 billion won a year earlier. GS Retail and CJ Olive Young increased their investments by more than 10 percent to 9.2 billion won and 5.4 billion won,…
