US House committee issues report accusing Korea of 'discriminatory attacks' on Coupang

WASHINGTON — A U.S. House committee on Wednesday released a report accusing Korea of "discriminatory attacks" on e-commerce giant Coupang Inc. and other American companies, claiming the Asian country's treatment of them violates last year's bilateral trade deal. The House Judiciary Committee issued the 35-page interim staff report, titled "Closed for Competition: Korea's Discriminatory Attacks on American-owned Businesses," as Coupang has faced public criticism and investigations for a massive data leak in Korea. The report particularly zeroes in on Korean authorities' probes into the data breach case of Coupang, which it says has been a "consistent target" of the Seoul government, at a time when Seoul wants to ensure that the case does not get in the way of the two countries' cooperation on security, trade and other fronts. "Korea has a long history of engaging in economic discrimination against foreign companies," it says. "These practices include coercive investigation tactics, overly burdensome regulatory requirements, and massive fines and penalties intended to punish American com