House report says South Korea violated trade deal with Coupang actions

Seoul rejects report as one-sided, defends investigations

The House Judiciary Committee’s report, titled “Closed for Competition: South Korea’s Discriminatory Attacks on American-owned Businesses,” was released Wednesday. The committee, chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, accused South Korean officials of spreading false information about the Coupang data breach and launching dozens of unrelated investigations into the company as part of what it described as a broader pattern of targeting foreign businesses.

The report centers on Seoul’s investigation into the Coupang data leak, which exposed the personal information of roughly 33 million users of the U.S.-listed e-commerce company. The incident sparked public outrage in South Korea, consumer boycotts, and criticism that the company sought to downplay the severity of the breach, according to the report. It also triggered raids, audits, and parliamentary inquiries that escalated into a diplomatic flashpoint between Washington and Seoul.

“After a disgruntled former employee recently accessed Coupang’s data systems without authorization, South Korea escalated its attacks into a ‘whole-of-government assault on Coupang,’” the report said.

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry pushed back against the report Thursday. Spokesman Park Il said during a regular briefing that the report “unilaterally accepts Coupang’s claims” and fails to reflect Seoul’s position despite months of communication with the committee.

“The report unilaterally accepts Coupang’s claims,” Park said. “Investigations and measures concerning Coupang have been conducted lawfully and without discrimination in accordance with domestic law, and our government ensures a fair business environment regardless of nationality.”

Park said Seoul would continue engaging with the House Judiciary Committee, Congress, and the U.S. administration to explain its position and emphasize its commitment under last year’s U.S.-South Korea joint fact sheet to treat American digital companies in a non-discriminatory manner. He added that the government would work to ensure the Coupang dispute does not negatively affect bilateral security consultations.

Beyond Coupang, the report argues that South Korea has for decades used competition policy and digital regulations to disadvantage American companies, citing Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Qualcomm. It also criticizes proposed digital platform legislation modeled on the European Union’s Digital Markets Act. The report describes the Korea Fair Trade Commission as “particularly aggressive in its attacks on American-owned businesses,” citing dawn raids and multi-day interrogations.

The report notes that South Korea fined Coupang more than $410 million last month, an amount it describes as the largest penalty ever imposed on a single company and far exceeding fines levied against South Korean firms for more serious data breaches. Coupang’s market capitalization has fallen by more than 40% since the investigations began, according to the report, affecting U.S. pension funds, mutual funds, and individual investors.

Coupang has stepped up its lobbying efforts in Washington, spending more than $1 million since the data breach came to light in November.

The conflict comes after the trade deal Washington and Seoul negotiated last year in response to President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariff scheme. In exchange for a lower tariff rate, South Korea pledged to invest $350 billion in U.S. shipbuilding and strategic industries while rolling back certain regulatory burdens. The House Judiciary Committee argued that South Korea’s treatment of Coupang violates commitments made under that agreement.

“South Korea’s discriminatory treatment of American-owned businesses directly violates its recent trade agreement with the United States,” the report said.