In 21,011 cases, consumers’ names, email addresses, phone numbers and delivery information were leaked together.

Shoppers browse a 29CM store in Seongsu-dong in Seongdong District, eastern Seoul.
29CM

Fashion and lifestyle platform 29CM, operated by Musinsa, announced on Sunday that the personal information of approximately 159,000 customers has been leaked. Of those, about 20,000 had sensitive data such as their names, addresses, phone numbers and email addresses exposed.

Some of the information was leaked after abnormal external access to an application programming interface — used to retrieve order information — was granted on Thursday, the company said.

Only users’ names were exposed in 138,841 cases. In another 21,011 cases, their names, email addresses, phone numbers and delivery information were leaked together.

29CM said that it blocked the access route immediately after discovering the problem and has voluntarily reported the breach to the Korea Internet & Security Agency. It also reportedly notified affected customers about exactly what information had been exposed and provided guidance on how to prevent further harm.

The company stated that it will also operate a separate webpage for the next 30 days, through which customers can check how much of their data was leaked.

29CM’s notice on a personal data breach
SCREEN CAPTURE

29CM confirmed that payment information and account credentials, including IDs and passwords, were not exposed in the breach.

The company warned, however, that the leaked information could be used to scam users. It urged them to be particularly wary of text messages, phone calls or emails that mention their orders or claim there are problems with payments, refunds or deliveries.

Customers who use the same password for multiple websites were advised to change their passwords on those other sites. Users who included any personal details in their delivery instructions were also advised to remove or change the information immediately.

“We sincerely apologize for causing concern to our customers,” 29CM said in its statement. “We will thoroughly review our security systems and management procedures and do everything that we can to prevent this from happening again.”

BY JEONG JAE-HONG [lee.jiwon10@joongang.co.kr] 

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.