Harold Rogers (해롤드 로저스), acting head of Coupang's South Korean unit, appeared at police on Friday afternoon over allegations including destroying evidence through a "self-investigation" after a large personal data leak.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's comprehensive task force investigating Coupang summoned Rogers at 2 p.m. as a suspect on allegations including obstruction of official duties. It was the first questioning of Rogers and came about a month after the task force was set up.

Arriving at the police headquarters building at 1:53 p.m., Rogers said, "As Coupang has always done, we will fully cooperate with the Korean government's investigation into Coupang." He added, "We will also actively cooperate with today's police questioning."

He did not answer questions such as, "What is the basis for saying the data leak was only 3,000 cases?" and "Do you admit the allegation of destroying evidence?" He headed into the interrogation room.

Rogers is accused of obstructing the government probe and the police investigation by announcing the results of an internal investigation into the data leak.

Police plan to question him on the circumstances, including whether Coupang contacted suspects in China without police knowledge or retrieved laptops and conducted forensic checks. Coupang said the internal probe found only 3,000 cases of leaked personal data, but police say as many as 30 million cases were leaked and believe Coupang may have destroyed some evidence or tried to downplay the scale.

At a parliamentary hearing, Rogers claimed the National Intelligence Service ordered the self-investigation, but the agency denied it and an allegation of perjury was added. He also faces allegations that he ordered a report that played down or sought to evade responsibility for an industrial accident involving the late Coupang worker Jang Deok-jun, who died in 2020.

Rogers, a Harvard University alumnus of Coupang Inc chairman Kim Beom-seok, is seen as the company's second-in-command. The summons took place after three police requests. Rogers left the country after last month's parliamentary hearing, citing a business trip, and twice failed to comply with police requests to appear. Police applied to ban him, a foreign national, from leaving the country, but the request was rejected at the prosecution stage.

Because Friday's questioning is being conducted through an interpreter, it is expected to take a long time. Some observers say Rogers will leave the country immediately after the questioning, but police may also seek a second summons depending on progress in the investigation.

[Yonhap]