A White House official said on July 2 that the Trump administration is 'deeply concerned' about what it described as South Korea's discriminatory targeting of American technology companies, naming Coupang (the Seoul-headquartered e-commerce giant listed in New York) as a case in point. 'By any reasonable standard, the Lee Jae-myung government is singling out Coupang,' the official said, adding that the administration would not tolerate unfair trade practices, including restrictions on market access for American digital services.
The remarks came in response to a 35-page interim staff report released on July 1 by the US House Judiciary Committee, which alleged that South Korean authorities had conducted a 'whole-of-government' campaign against Coupang following a large-scale personal data breach. The report largely reflects Coupang's own account of events, a point that critics, including Seoul, have been quick to note. It was prepared by Republican committee staff and has not been formally adopted by the committee.
South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the report 'unilaterally reflects Coupang's claims' and does not include positions that Seoul had communicated to the committee. The National Intelligence Service (South Korea's domestic and foreign intelligence agency) went further, calling Coupang's specific allegations 'clearly false.' It said it had conducted information-sharing consultations with Coupang under its statutory mandate after treating the breach as a national-security threat, but had issued no orders or directives to the company. The NIS also noted that South Korean police are currently investigating Coupang's chief executive on a suspected perjury charge, filed after the National Assembly referred the matter.
According to Newsis, Coupang spent approximately 1.785 million dollars on lobbying in the United States in the first quarter of this year alone, with contacts recorded at the White House National Security Council, the Office of the Vice President, and several executive-branch departments.
Fred Fleitz, a former White House National Security Council chief of staff and deputy director of the America First Policy Institute, wrote in Newsmax that the commercial dispute 'has the potential to undermine the trust and goodwill underpinning one of America's most important strategic partnerships.' He called the House report 'a timely warning,' while also saying the United States should honour its trade commitments with Seoul.
The public White House statement marks the first time the administration has openly named Coupang in criticising South Korea, shifting the pressure from Congress to the executive branch and raising the prospect that the row could weigh on broader alliance relations.