US House committee says South Korea discriminated against Coupang

[SEOUL] South Korean authorities have consistently discriminated against US-based Coupang, a campaign that escalated with numerous investigations after a data breach at the e-commerce firm in 2025, the US House Judiciary Committee said in an interim report.

Those actions were part of long-standing economic discrimination against US and other foreign companies, the report said, adding that such discrimination “directly violates” a recent bilateral trade agreement.

South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson Park Il said that the report was one-sided, reflecting only claims by Coupang despite the government communicating with the committee for months.

Allegations of discrimination against Coupang and other US companies were untrue, he added.

Report alleges a ‘government assault’ on Coupang

Coupang, the biggest online retailer in South Korea but based in Seattle, became the target of much regulatory scrutiny and public ire in 2025 after news of the breach became known.

A former employee was able to access customer information associated with as many as 33.7 million accounts. Coupang later said that the person only stored and retained information relating to about 3,000 accounts.

After the breach, “South Korea escalated its attacks into a ‘whole-of-government assault on Coupang’”, based on the report by the Republican-controlled committee, which said that its findings were informed by documents and testimony from Coupang.

The report said that more than 10 South Korean agencies initiated dozens of unrelated investigations into Coupang following the breach, issuing over 4,000 document requests, and conducting at least 652 interviews with Coupang employees.

Facts about laptop recovery efforts disputed

It also said that South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) forced Coupang to engage in a dangerous recovery operation, which involved sending an employee to China and retrieving devices, and sworn statements from the former employee responsible for the breach.

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As part of that, Coupang hired divers to retrieve a discarded laptop from a river, and South Korean President Lee Jae-myung was briefed on the recovery operation, the report added.

The NIS denied in December that it had directed Coupang’s investigation or recovery efforts, saying that it had only requested materials from the company.

Democratic Party lawmaker Park Sun-won, a member of South Korea’s National Assembly Intelligence Committee, also said on Thursday (Jul 2) that there had been “absolutely” no coercion.

The presidential Blue House did not have an immediate response.

Coupang said in a statement that it regretted the circumstances that led to the House Judiciary Committee’s investigation.

It is “committed to finding a constructive resolution so Coupang can once again serve as a bridge to strengthen the US-Korea alliance, accelerating trade and investment that benefits both countries”, the company said. REUTERS