The New York Stock Exchange will welcome Coupang executives and guests on March 11, 2021 to commemorate Coupang’s initial public offering.
new york stock exchange
South Korean government uses regulators to discriminate against U.S. companies, launching unprecedented campaign against online retailers CoupangAccording to a House Judiciary Committee report released Wednesday.
The report is the result of an investigation the commission launched in February. It focuses on the decades-old treatment of Coupang and other American companies, known as the “Amazon of Asia” despite being based in the United States.
The committee, chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), reported that “South Korea’s actions are part of a broader effort by foreign governments to weaponize their laws and regulations to harm U.S. businesses and limit their ability to compete in the global economy.”
The South Korean embassy did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
The commission said in its report that Coupang was the target of discriminatory pressure from the South Korean government, which intensified in 2025 following a data breach by a disgruntled former employee.
The company apologized for the violation, and CEO Park Dae-joon resigned in the wake of the incident.
However, according to testimony before the committee by Coupang’s acting CEO Harold Rogers, who took over in December after Park resigned, South Korean authorities were informed by the company that same month that the scale of the breach was smaller than originally expected and that “the nature of the breach was limited,” according to a House Judiciary report.
Despite this information, the committee found that the South Korean government launched a campaign against Coupang that included dozens of investigations, thousands of document requests, excessive fines, and threats of criminal charges against Mr. Rogers, a U.S. citizen.
The commission said South Korea’s National Intelligence Service forced Coupang to send divers on a secret mission to retrieve a laptop used by a disgruntled former employee and dumped in a river in Shanghai, then lied to the public about its involvement in the recovery effort.
“We regret the circumstances that led to the House Judiciary Committee’s investigation and remain committed to finding a constructive solution so that Coupang can once again serve as a bridge to strengthen the U.S.-South Korea alliance and accelerate trade and investment that benefits both countries,” the company said in a statement.
According to the commission, as a result of South Korea’s campaign against Coupang, Coupang’s market capitalization may fall by more than 40%, which could have a negative impact on investors.
“South Korean regulators have consistently targeted Coupang, exposing the company to hostile regulatory treatment, unfair enforcement practices, and disproportionately high fines not available to its Korean competitors,” the judicial report said.
The United States and South Korea have had a free trade agreement since 2012. Demetrios Marantis, former acting U.S. trade representative under President Barack Obama, told CNBC that South Korea is an important trading partner for the United States in Asia.
However, this relationship has been strained at times, with other U.S.-based digital companies, google and Netflix Marantis said there were also occasional clashes with South Korean regulators.
“South Korea has a long history of generally discriminating against foreign companies, being protectionist and somewhat inward-looking,” he said. “But the Coupang situation has never been as intense as it is. The entire government is waging such an attack on one company.”
The U.S.-South Korea trade deal was renegotiated in 2025 as part of President Donald Trump’s broader global tariffs. South Korea negotiated lower tariffs with President Trump in exchange for U.S. investments in shipbuilding, national security, and regulatory relief for U.S. companies.
The House Judiciary Committee argued in a report that South Korea’s actions against Coupang violated the agreement.
“South Korea’s discriminatory treatment of U.S.-owned companies is in direct violation of recent trade agreements with the United States,” the report states.
