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Coupang Corp.’s headquarters in Seoul. (Hankyoreh file photograph)
Two US funding companies with Coupang have notified the South Korean authorities of their intent to convey arbitration claims towards it, arguing that they suffered damages as a result of whole-of-government response to the e-commerce large’s large private information breach. The Korean authorities acknowledged it will “reply proactively.”
With Coupang’s buyers demonstrating a willingness to take authorized motion towards the Korean authorities, there’s the potential of this dispute escalating right into a commerce battle between Korea and the US.
On Thursday, the Ministry of Justice introduced that Greenoaks Capital Companions and Altimeter Capital Administration, US shareholders of Coupang, submitted a discover of intent for worldwide funding dispute arbitration to the Korean authorities, based mostly on the Korea-US Free Commerce Settlement.
A discover of intent to convey arbitration claims is a written assertion expressing a claimant’s intention to hunt arbitration and doesn’t represent a proper submitting. Nevertheless, a proper declare might be filed 90 days after submitting the discover of intent.
The claimants, together with tech funding agency Greenoaks, argue that the Korean pan-governmental response to Coupang’s information breach constitutes a violation of the Korea-US FTA settlement which has resulted in billions of {dollars} in damages.
Of their discover, the claimants assert that the Korean authorities launched an “unprecedented assault on a US firm” on Dec. 1, 2025, with the Nationwide Meeting and the manager department, amongst different establishments, focusing on Coupang with varied investigations in addition to a “defamatory public relations marketing campaign.”
The claimants argue that this violates the Korean authorities’s obligation to “accord coated investments honest and equitable therapy and full safety and safety (Article 11.5); to accord therapy no much less favorable than that accorded to buyers and investments of Korea and third nations (Articles 11.3 and 11.4); the prohibition on direct or oblique expropriation with out immediate, enough, and efficient compensation.”
In response, the Ministry of Justice acknowledged the Korean authorities will set up a “joint response system centering on an ‘worldwide funding dispute response workforce’ with related businesses to totally assessment the authorized points associated to the discover.”
“We’ll reply proactively, working to boost the general public’s proper to know and procedural transparency by disclosing related info,” the ministry stated.
As well as, Reuters reported that Greenoaks and Altimeter have additionally filed a grievance with the US Commerce Consultant, alleging Korea’s response to the Coupang state of affairs is “discriminatory” and requesting an investigation into the Korean authorities and the imposition of commerce treatment measures. These corporations requested the USTR to impose “acceptable commerce cures, probably together with tariffs and different sanctions” on the Korean authorities. They argued that the Korean authorities’s response to the information leak far exceeds the scope of regular regulatory enforcement.
These corporations claimed that the labor, monetary and customs investigations being carried out by the Korean authorities are largely unrelated to the information incident. Marney Chee, a accomplice at Covington, the regulation agency representing Greenoaks, acknowledged, “Our most important concern is the dimensions and velocity of the federal government’s response, which has led to vital damages and threatens the worth of our funding.”
In November 2025, Coupang disclosed that private information for some 33 million prospects in South Korea had been compromised, triggering sturdy political and social backlash in Korea and a broad government-level investigation. Coupang’s New York-listed shares have fallen about 27% because the firm disclosed the information breach.
As soon as the Korean authorities launched its investigations, Coupang’s US mother or father firm mobilized American politicians, claiming the Korean authorities was conducting a discriminatory investigation. Now the battle has escalated even additional with Coupang’s buyers taking motion towards the Korean authorities.
By Kang Jae-gu, employees reporter; Jung E-gil, senior employees author
Please direct questions or feedback to [english@hani.co.kr]
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