The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are her own.

By Katrina Hamlin

HONG KONG, June 15 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Shares of Korea's top e-retailer rallied 14% after the government levied a lower-than-feared $410 mln fine following a data breach. The firm will appeal, and a separate probe into its corporate structure looms, signaling more regulatory spats ahead. Challengers are circling too.

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CONTEXT NEWS

South Korea will fine e-commerce giant Coupang $410 million following a cyber breach that led to the leak of ‌customer information last year and illegal collection of personal information, according to a filing on June 11. The fine includes $278 million relating to the 2025 incident, plus a further $132 million fine in connection with the collection and storage of data for a third-party advertising program. The combined fines are equivalent to roughly twice the group’s net profit last year.

The Personal Information Protection Commission said in a briefing on June 11 that the New York-listed company had leaked personal data of more than 33 million customers and failed to detect the breach within the 72 hours required by the law.

The company said in an emailed statement that "we regret that our proactive measures to prevent secondary harm from last year's data leak incident, as well as our explanations based on clear facts, were not sufficiently reflected" in the regulator's decision.

Coupang’s New York-listed shares rose 14.1% to $17.25 on June 11.