Sudden White Smoke From New Battery... "Bought It Trusting Coupang"

[Anchor]

Last month, a fire broke out at a theme park in Danyang, North Chungcheong Province, causing over 600 million won in property damage. The fire reportedly started from a new battery purchased from Coupang, but the business says it has yet to receive any meaningful explanation from Coupang.

Reporter Lee Se-hyeon has the details.

[Reporter]

Inside an empty warehouse, white smoke rises from a battery that is being charged, sparks fly, and soon the warehouse is filled with smoke.

This footage was captured by a CCTV camera inside a warehouse at a media theme park in Danyang, North Chungcheong Province, on the afternoon of the 23rd of last month.

One warehouse building and half of the 367-square-meter theme park facility were burned, resulting in 650 million won in property damage estimated by the fire department.

The fire started while charging a blower battery that had been ordered from Coupang a week prior.

The fire broke out in the battery just an hour and a half after its very first charge.

The following day, the theme park sent a certified official letter to Coupang requesting the disclosure of information such as the battery's country of origin, KC certification details, and the manufacturer.

Coupang suspended sales of the product the next day and promised to provide an answer within three days, but the theme park has not received any explanation to this day.

[Kim Young-duck / Vice President of the Affected Company: (The product page) all indicated functions to block overload and overcurrent. Buying items from Coupang (trusting them) has become a sin.]

A Coupang representative stated, "It is difficult to verify the related details because the seller registered on the platform has not provided an explanation," and only handed over the seller's contact information to the theme park.

[Park Jong-myung / Attorney Specialized in Fair Trade Law: (Under the E-Commerce Act) mail-order intermediaries are required to provide identity information such as name, address, and phone number, as well as information on credit rating (to consumers). While platforms generate massive corporate profits, protection for consumers is somewhat lacking....]

Coupang stated, "We have fulfilled all necessary measures as a mail-order intermediary, such as suspending the sale of the problematic product," adding, "We will actively cooperate with investigations by investigative agencies and others in the future to determine the cause and provide relief for damages."

(Video Reporter: Choi Dae-woong | Video Editor: Park Ji-in | Designer: Kim Min-young)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.