{"id":629,"date":"2026-07-17T19:12:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T19:12:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=629"},"modified":"2026-07-17T19:12:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T19:12:16","slug":"how-a-dispute-over-e-commerce-firm-coupang-is-testing-us-south-korea-ties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=629","title":{"rendered":"How a Dispute Over E-Commerce Firm Coupang Is Testing US-South Korea Ties"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>By Kyu-seok Shim<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>SEOUL, July 17 (Reuters) &#8211; South Korea&#8217;s decision to fine e-commerce firm Coupang over a data leak \u2060has \u2060drawn criticism from Washington and raised questions about the country&#8217;s \u2060openness to American tech, raising worries the matter is impacting Seoul&#8217;s relations with the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=627\">Brazil Finance Chief Pledges Reciprocity, Not Retaliation, After New U.S. Tariffs<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The tensions surrounding Coupang, which is South Korea&#8217;s biggest \u200bonline retailer, though it is based in Seattle, have become serious enough that Kang Kyung-wha, Seoul&#8217;s ambassador to the U.S., returned to the capital on Wednesday for consultations with officials in President Lee Jae Myung&#8217;s administration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;The (Coupang) \u200cissue is dragging on much longer than I expected,&#8221; \u200cKang said to local media when asked about the American criticism on the issue. She added the matter would be dealt with separately from other bilateral items that have been agreed upon by the \u2060two countries.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>At stake is a $350 \u2060billion South Korean pledge to invest in the U.S., Seoul&#8217;s aspiration to build nuclear-powered submarines as well as coordination \u200bon China and North Korea.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>On top of the Coupang support from congressional Republicans, South Korea has been criticised by the U.S. State Department for amending its communications laws to increase financial penalties on content publishers that have been found to spread false information online.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The State Department said that it had &#8220;significant concerns\u201d that the changes could enable excessive content regulation and undermine free speech. The amendments will affect local platforms, as well as Google, Meta, X \u200band TikTok.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>South Korean lawmakers told Reuters they are concerned that the Coupang case is being used by Washington as a test of Seoul\u2019s openness to U.S. business, rather than \u2060being \u2060treated as a domestic privacy dispute.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>\u201cThis is not \u2060discrimination against an American company,\u201d ruling Democratic \u200bParty lawmaker Park Sun-won said. \u201cIt was action over a personal data leak affecting 35 million people. It would be the same for any company.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Another ruling party lawmaker, \u200bKim Young-bae, said treating the Coupang dispute as proof of \u2060an anti-U.S. bias misreads both the facts and the broader direction of the alliance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Seoul&#8217;s Foreign Ministry has also said the Coupang matter should not be linked to ongoing security negotiations, including South Korea\u2019s ambitions to build nuclear-powered submarines, a plan that U.S. President Donald Trump endorsed last December.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>When asked about the Coupang dispute, a State Department spokesperson said South Korea &#8220;should not impose disproportionate burdens on U.S. companies.&#8221; The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Coupang referred to its past statements, saying it hoped to find a constructive resolution.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=625\">Apple Unseats Nvidia to Become World\u2019s Most Valuable Company as AI Bets Shift<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>A source close to the Coupang negotiations who did not want to be identified \u2060publicly due to the sensitivity of the situation said the company had for months repeatedly sought a \u201cconstructive off-ramp\u201d with Seoul, &#8220;literally hundreds of times \u2060over the last seven months.&#8221; Its requests included what it called a fair technical review and an appropriate penalty.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>A WAR OF WORDS<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The dispute began in November after Coupang said it suffered a data leak that impacted more than 33 million customers after an ex-employee in China accessed its systems.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>In June, South Korean regulators fined Coupang 625 billion won ($422.62 million), saying the penalty sought to protect consumers. Coupang has said it intends to challenge the fine, arguing that regulators overlooked corrective steps that it had taken.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Subsequently, Coupang received support from some U.S. Republicans who criticised the South Korean government&#8217;s actions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>A report from the U.S. House Judiciary Committee this month accused South Korea of discriminating against American-owned businesses, saying Seoul had weaponized its regulations against Coupang and other companies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>South Korea\u2019s presidential office rejected those claims, saying the report disproportionately reflected Coupang\u2019s position and neglected Seoul\u2019s.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>A House Judiciary Committee spokesperson told Reuters that Seoul&#8217;s response showed &#8220;South Korea is acting just like other foreign governments that have been caught targeting and harassing innovative U.S. companies.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>Kim Joon-hyung, a lawmaker with the minor \u2060Rebuilding Korea Party, said the business-related complaints about Coupang and the changes in the communications law were being conflated by some people in the U.S. with accusations of election fraud, which members of South Korea&#8217;s far right have levied against Lee.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>In June, an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal by two American conservatives said that the Lee administration is undermining the U.S.-South Korea alliance, citing the Coupang case as an example, and also accused it of pushing constitutional revisions to rule indefinitely.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>The article drew criticism from \u200bSouth Korean officials and the presidential office.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>&#8220;This time the problem is more serious because it is combined with extreme claims &#8211; and it is being done \u200borganizationally,\u201d Kim said.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/officemovingamerica.com\/?p=623\">Taylor Farms to Recall Products Linked to Cyclosporiasis Outbreak, Bloomberg News Reports<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p>($1 = 1,478.8600 won)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>(Reporting by Kyu-seok Shim; Editing by Brenda Goh and Thomas Derpinghaus)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><b>Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters<\/b>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>US News is a recognized leader in college, grad school, hospital, mutual fund, and car rankings. 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