[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 started from a blower battery that had never been used before. The theme park requested relevant information from Coupang, where the item was ordered, but has yet to receive any explanation.

Reporter Lee Se-hyeon investigated the tip.

[Reporter]

Inside an empty storage room, white smoke rises from a battery being charged, followed by sparks. Soon after, the room fills with smoke.

This footage was captured by a CCTV camera inside a storage room at a media theme park in Danyang, North Chungcheong Province, on the afternoon of August 23.

The fire that started here was extinguished only after burning down the entire interior.

As you can see, the ceiling and the air conditioner have completely collapsed, and the smell of burning still lingers even ten days after the fire.

One storage 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 it was charged for the very first time.

The next day, the theme park sent an official certification of contents to Coupang, demanding 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 following day and promised to provide a response within three days, but the theme park has not received any explanation to this day.

[Kim Young-deok / Vice President, Affected Company: "(The product page) indicated functions to block overload and overcurrent. Buying a product from Coupang (trusting them) has become a crime."]br />
A Coupang representative stated, "It is difficult to verify the relevant details because the third-party 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), e-commerce intermediaries are required to provide consumers with identity information such as name, address, and phone number, as well as credit rating information. While platforms generate massive profits, their protection for consumers is somewhat lacking."]br />
Coupang stated, "We have implemented all necessary measures as an e-commerce intermediary, including 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 damage relief."

Reported by Choi Dae-woong | Video by Park Ji-in | Graphics by Kim Min-young