The presidential office says Coupang acted inappropriately when it publicly released the results of its internal investigation into a recent massive data breach.

A presidential office official told KBS on Thursday that it made no sense for the subject of an ongoing investigation to disclose investigative findings to the public, stressing that Coupang had no authority to do so.

Earlier in the day, Coupang said in a press release that it had identified and contacted the individual responsible for the breach and secured all related data and devices.

The company said the individual accessed information on 33 million customers but saved data from only about three-thousand accounts, adding that it obtained a statement indicating the data was neither transmitted externally nor shared further.

In response, the Ministry of Science and ICT said Coupang’s claims have not been verified by the joint public‑private investigation team and added that it has formally protested the unilateral disclosure of information related to an ongoing probe.