A U.S. House Judiciary Committee interim report is accusing South Korean authorities of carrying out a sustained campaign of discrimination against Coupang, a Seattle-based online retailer that operates as the largest e-commerce platform in South Korea.
According to the Republican-controlled committee, that discrimination intensified following a data breach at Coupang last year, with the report describing what it called a “whole-of-government assault on Coupang” by South Korean agencies.
The committee’s report also stated that such discriminatory actions against Coupang and other U.S. and foreign companies “directly violates” a recent bilateral trade agreement between the two nations.
South Korea’s foreign ministry spokesperson Park Il fired back, calling the report one-sided and saying it reflected only Coupang’s version of events — despite months of communication between the South Korean government and the committee. He flatly denied that Coupang or any other U.S. companies had faced discrimination.
The data breach at the center of the controversy involved a former Coupang employee who accessed customer data tied to as many as 33.7 million accounts. Coupang later clarified that the individual only stored and kept data from approximately 3,000 of those accounts.
Following the breach, the report says more than 10 South Korean government agencies launched dozens of investigations into Coupang that had no connection to the breach itself. Those investigations generated more than 4,000 document requests and included at least 652 interviews with Coupang staff.
The report further alleges that South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, known as the NIS, pressured Coupang into conducting a risky recovery operation. That effort reportedly involved sending a company employee to China to retrieve devices and sworn statements from the former employee behind the breach. Coupang also hired divers to pull a discarded laptop from a river as part of the recovery effort.
The report states that South Korean President Lee Jae Myung was briefed on that recovery operation.
The NIS denied in December that it had directed or overseen Coupang’s investigation or recovery efforts, saying it had only requested materials from the company. Democratic Party lawmaker Park Sun-won, a member of South Korea’s National Assembly Intelligence Committee, said Thursday there had been “absolutely” no coercion involved. The presidential Blue House had no immediate comment.
In a statement, Coupang said it regretted the events that led to the House Judiciary Committee’s investigation. The company added that it is “committed to finding a constructive resolution so Coupang can once again serve as a bridge to strengthen the U.S.-Korea alliance, accelerating trade and investment that benefits both countries.”
