Why the e-commerce giant that once called itself a ‘proud Korean company’ now says it is American

Online retail giant Coupang, which once described itself as a “proud Korean company,” has recently been emphasising its identity as an American company. This shift comes as the company, often referred to as “South Korea’s Amazon,” faces regulatory scrutiny in the country. The company, which has its headquarters in Seattle, US, has reportedly been lobbying the US government to advance its interests as it faces investigations by at least 10 agencies in Seoul over a recent major data leak incident.According to a report by The Financial Times, the company’s outreach to US policymakers was visible last month when Harold Rogers, interim chief executive of Coupang Korea, attended US President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address. A day earlier, he testified at a closed-door session of the House Judiciary Committee at the request of the chairs, Jim Jordan and Scott Fitzgerald, who said the “targeting” of Coupang represents “a sharp escalation of South Korea’s campaign against innovative American-owned companies”.The report claims that US Vice-President JD Vance has raised the Coupang case with South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok.

Meanwhile, a group of Coupang investors has petitioned the US government under Section 301 of the Trade Act, which allows the US government to investigate and potentially retaliate against foreign trade practices it considers unfair.Among the investors was Altimeter Capital, whose chief executive, Brad Gerstner, attended the State of the Union address, where President Donald Trump paused his speech to describe him as “a very tremendous guy”.Coupang has also been building relationships in Washington for several years. In 2021, the company hired former Trump official Alex Wong as head of public affairs. It has also engaged lobbying companies linked to the administration, including Miller Strategies, while its chief global affairs officer is former White House staff secretary Rob Porter.Harold Rogers, interim chief executive of Coupang Korea, has contributed to political campaigns from both parties. In July last year, he donated $5,000 to the campaign of Suzan DelBene, a Democrat who told a House trade subcommittee in January: “I’m hearing from companies in my home state of Washington, like Coupang, [Korean] regulators are already violating commitments.”As part of an agreement signed in November to avoid US tariffs, South Korea committed to ensuring American companies are “not discriminated against and do not face unnecessary barriers in terms of laws and policies concerning digital services”.

What ‘problem’ is Coupang facing in South Korea

The problems for Coupang began in November 2025, when it announced that a former employee had used stolen login credentials to access its systems containing customer information. The authorities in South Korea announced that personal information for almost two-thirds of the population had been compromised and accessed more than 100 million times. Coupang then revealed that the breach also affected 200,000 accounts in Taiwan.Coupang apologised for the incident but disputed the regulators’ assessment of its scale. The company said “the perpetrator retained limited user data from only 3,000 accounts and subsequently deleted” it, adding that no evidence of “secondary harm” had been identified. The company’s shares have declined by more than a third since November.South Korean lawmakers have called on Bom Kim, Coupang’s Korean-American founder and chief executive of the New York-listed parent company, to take responsibility and apologise. Kim declined to attend a National Assembly hearing in December 2025, citing “pre-existing plans”, a decision some lawmakers viewed as dismissive.“People around [Coupang], including me, told them: ‘Have Bom Kim go to Korea and apologise, apologise, apologise,’” a person in Washington familiar with the company and Korean officials told FT, adding that such a gesture was “almost a rite of passage” for corporate leaders in South Korea.Although more than 90% of Coupang’s revenue comes from South Korea, the company is registered in Delaware. In a statement, Coupang described itself as a “US technology and Fortune 150 company” with “subsidiaries around the world, including in Korea, Taiwan and Japan”.People familiar with the situation told FT that Coupang is exploring ways to resolve the matter, which could include paying fines, donating to government-linked causes, or a visit and apology from Bom Kim, provided there are assurances that he would not face arrest. Coupang did not respond to a request for comment on its plans.South Korean authorities may also be considering other measures that could affect the company without escalating tensions into a broader trade dispute. Last month, the government and the ruling Democratic Party proposed lifting a 14-year ban on early-morning deliveries by supermarkets, a restriction originally introduced to support traditional markets but one that has helped Coupang expand its delivery operations.Currently, Coupang is South Korea’s second-largest private employer after Samsung Electronics and accounts for nearly a quarter of the country’s online shopping market. The company reported revenue of Won 49.1 trillion ($33.5 billion) in 2025, exceeding the combined revenue of the largest Korean supermarket chains.