Coupang’s Korean corporation on the 6th. Yonhap News

It was confirmed on the 11th that Coupang filed a lawsuit against the Korea Fair Trade Commission seeking to cancel the decision designating Kim Beom-seok, chair of the board of Coupang Inc, as the ‘same person (head of the group)’. It is known to be the first time a lawsuit has been filed over the Commission’s ‘same person’ designation.

According to the legal community and Coupang, on the 8th the company filed with the Seoul High Court a suit to annul the disposition changing the ‘same person’ designation, among other measures, against the Korea Fair Trade Commission. On the 9th, it also filed for a stay of enforcement of the disposition changing the ‘same person’ designation. Coupang’s legal representative is the law firm Taepyeongyang.

Previously, on the 29th of last month, the Korea Fair Trade Commission announced that it would change Coupang’s ‘same person’ from the corporation to Chair Kim. It was the first such change in five years since Coupang was first designated as a large business group in 2021. The Commission made the decision after confirming indications that Chair Kim’s younger brother, Vice President Kim Yoo-seok, had participated in management. Under the ‘same person’ designation, starting this year, any company in which Chair Kim, his blood relatives within the fourth degree, or relatives by marriage within the third degree hold shares will all be included as Coupang affiliates, and regulations on private interest appropriation will apply to these affiliates.

Immediately after the Commission’s announcement, Coupang issued a statement, saying, “Coupang Inc wholly owns the Korean Coupang entity, and the Korean Coupang also wholly owns its subsidiaries and sub-subsidiaries, forming a transparent governance structure,” and, “Chair Kim and his relatives do not hold stakes in Korean affiliates, so there is no concern whatsoever about private interest appropriation,” foreshadowing an administrative lawsuit.