US politicians back Coupang, seethe over South Korea’s ‘campaign of aggression’

Coupang’s significant spending on lobbying politicians in the United States has apparently paid off, with Republicans criticising the South Korean government’s ongoing investigation into the Seattle-headquartered e-commerce firm.\nThey have denounced South Korea’s investigation into Coupang as an attempt to favour China while remaining silent on the company’s massive data breach of the personal information of 33.7 million users, allegedly by a former employee who is a Chinese national.\nAmid growing suspicion that Coupang has been trying to turn the matter into a diplomatic feud, Seoul is now keeping a close watch on the company’s suspected connections with US government officials and lawmakers.\nRobert O’Brien, who served as national security adviser during the first Donald Trump administration, said on Tuesday that the National Assembly’s aggressive targeting of Coupang will set the stage for further discriminatory measures by the Korean Fair Trade Commission and broader regulatory barriers towards US firms.\n“Trump has worked hard to rebalance the trade relationship with Korea, and it would be very unfortunate if Korea undermines his efforts by targeting US tech firms,” he wrote on social media. “A strong, coordinated US response is essential to safeguard fair treatment of US companies and maintain strategic balance against China’s growing economic influence in the sector.”\nRepublican Representative Darrell Issa also mentioned Coupang as one of the US tech firms subject to “a campaign of aggression” from the South Korean government.\n“Specifically, this is being done by new digital trade laws that American companies will tell you simultaneously favour Korean and Chinese businesses and strangle their ability to operate in Korea,” he said in a column published on Monday by the Daily Caller, a US right-wing news website.\n\nReal America’s Voice, a US-based right-wing streaming channel, reported the same day that South Korean President Lee Jae-myung issued a directive to bankrupt Coupang.\nThe channel also shared Issa’s supposition that South Korea’s regulation of Coupang and other US tech firms led to the cancellation of last Thursday’s closed-door meeting of the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement Joint Committee, despite the South Korean government’s explanation that the event was postponed because both sides needed more time to discuss the details of the agenda.\nAccording to the US Senate’s lobbying disclosures, Coupang has spent at least US$10 million in the US since August 2021. The company also donated US$1 million to Trump’s second inauguration ceremony in January.\nGiven the company’s aggressive recruitment of lobbyists in Washington, concerns are mounting that the US may intensify its pressure on South Korea to stop the investigation into the company.\nIn response, the presidential office ordered the foreign minister and national security officials to attend an unusual ministerial meeting on Christmas Day to discuss countermeasures against Coupang’s data breach.\nThe Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee will also join the National Assembly’s joint hearing scheduled for December 30 and 31 to examine whether the Coupang case will affect diplomatic relations with the US.\nCoupang on Thursday said the customer information leaked from the company has been deleted by the suspect.\nThis story was first published by The Korea Times\n