Two major American investment firms are taking a stand against the South Korean government. Greenoaks and Altimeter have filed a petition with the US government, claiming that South Korean officials are unfairly targeting the e-commerce giant Coupang. They want the US Trade Representative to investigate the matter and, if warranted, impose tariffs or other sanctions on South Korea.
The trouble began in November when Coupang suffered a massive data breach. Hackers exposed the personal information of about 33 million customers in South Korea. This led to a huge public outcry and a wave of investigations by Korean lawmakers. The two investment firms argue that the government’s response has gone far beyond normal regulation. They believe Seoul is running a discriminatory campaign against the company, which has cost investors billions of dollars.
In addition to the petition, the firms also filed for arbitration under the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS). This moves the fight from a corporate disagreement to a potential diplomatic headache between the two nations.
South Korean officials aren’t backing down. President Lee Jae Myung told reporters this week that his country will handle the issue fairly in accordance with its own laws. He emphasized that South Korea is a sovereign nation and must protect its citizens.
The country’s Trade Minister, Yeo Han-koo, recently returned from a trip to Washington, where he tried to clear up what he called “misunderstandings” with US officials. He argued that the scale of the Coupang leak was unprecedented. Yeo pointed out that if a Korean company leaked the private data of millions of Americans, the US government would likely react with the same level of toughness. He insists that the investigations are about legal accountability for a major security failure, not about trade discrimination or politics.
