July 3, 2026
SEOUL – South Korea on Thursday rejected allegations by the US House Judiciary Committee that it systematically discriminates against American companies, calling the claims factually inaccurate and saying Korean authorities enforce regulations fairly regardless of nationality.
“We regret that the report released by the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday appears to unilaterally reflect only Coupang’s arguments,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Park Il said during a regular briefing.
Park said investigations and regulatory actions involving Coupang had been conducted lawfully and without discrimination under Korean law.
“The Korean government guarantees a fair business environment regardless of a company’s nationality,” he said. “Claims that the government has subjected Coupang to discriminatory investigations or unfair regulations are not true.”
He added that Seoul had been communicating with the House Judiciary Committee since February to explain Korea’s position and would continue engaging with US lawmakers and officials to provide accurate information.
The comments came after the committee released an interim staff report accusing South Korea of systematically discriminating against American-owned businesses and citing e-commerce giant Coupang as the clearest example.
The 35-page report, titled “Closed for Competition: South Korea’s Discriminatory Attacks on American-owned Businesses,” stemmed from a congressional investigation launched in February into Korean authorities’ handling of a Coupang data breach affecting 33.7 million users.
As part of the inquiry, Coupang interim Chief Executive Officer Harold Rogers sat for a seven-hour deposition.
“South Korea has a long history of engaging in economic discrimination against foreign companies,” the report said, arguing that Seoul protects domestic firms from US competitors through “coercive investigation tactics, overly burdensome regulatory requirements, and massive fines and penalties.”
The report described Coupang as “an innovative American e-commerce company” that had become a frequent target of Korean regulators.
According to the committee, the data breach triggered a “whole-of-government assault on Coupang,” resulting in false accusations and public portrayals of the company as a criminal organization.
Among the report’s most serious allegations was a claim that the National Intelligence Service directed Coupang personnel to travel to China to retrieve devices and secure sworn statements before later denying involvement in the operation.
“Even more concerning, the South Korean government is now threatening Coupang’s interim CEO Harold L. Rogers, an American citizen, with criminal charges based on NIS’s refusal to acknowledge its role in the recovery operation,” the report said.
The NIS rejected similar claims last year, saying it had not instructed, ordered or authorized Coupang to conduct its internal investigation beyond requesting materials related to the case.
The report also cited Rogers as describing South Korea as “the most difficult regulatory environment” of his career and the company’s relationship with Korean regulators as “antagonistic.”
It further accused the Korea Fair Trade Commission of being “particularly aggressive” toward American-owned businesses and argued that Seoul had “weaponized digital laws and regulations” against US companies, including legislation modeled after Europe’s Digital Markets Act.
The committee said Korea’s actions had contributed to a 40 percent decline in Coupang’s market capitalization and criticized last month’s $410 million fine against the company as disproportionate.
More broadly, the report argued that South Korea’s actions violated trade commitments to the United States, citing the Trump administration’s warning that it would not tolerate regulatory practices that place heavier burdens on American companies than on domestic rivals.
Park said the government would continue efforts to explain that Korea treats US digital companies in a non-discriminatory manner and would work to ensure the issue does not negatively affect broader Korea-US relations.