Claims of "Coupang Discrimination" Met With Counter: "What If Two-Thirds of U.S. Population's Data Was Leaked?"

[Anchor]

Claims that the South Korean government is discriminating against U.S. companies like Coupang have been raised by the White House, following a similar report from the U.S. House of Representatives. The Presidential Office refuted these claims, stating they are inconsistent with the facts, and countered by asking, "If the personal information of two-thirds of the American population were leaked to China, wouldn't that be a serious issue in the U.S. as well?"

Reporter Kang Min-u has the story.

[Reporter]

A report from a U.S. House committee claims that the South Korean government is treating U.S. companies, including Coupang, in a discriminatory manner.

In response to inquiries from Korean media regarding this stance, a U.S. White House official stated, "The Trump administration is deeply concerned about the situation where the South Korean government is discriminatorily targeting U.S. technology companies," adding, "By any reasonable standard, the Lee Jae-myung administration is singling out Coupang."

The Presidential Office countered by stating, "We do not discriminate in business activities based on nationality, nor do we target specific entities for investigation."

National Security Office Director Wi Sung-lac emphasized, "Over 33 million pieces of personal information were leaked, a fact that the company, Coupang, has acknowledged," adding, "The leak was carried out in China by a former Coupang employee who is a Chinese national," and "The data could potentially include information on Americans living in South Korea."

In particular, Director Wi pointed out, "If personal information equivalent to two-thirds of the U.S. population were leaked to China, and it was unknown where that data went, it would undoubtedly be a very serious issue in the United States."

His point is that the U.S. side needs to put themselves in our shoes regarding the Coupang issue.

Given that the U.S. has previously delayed South Korea-U.S. security negotiations, which involve matters such as the introduction of nuclear-powered submarines, for over five months using the Coupang situation as a pretext, there are calls for a more sophisticated response.

The National Assembly Secretariat issued a separate statement in the name of the National Assembly, expressing regret over the U.S. House report, which claimed that the National Assembly's hearing on Coupang was "hostile and discriminatory," stating that the report unilaterally reflected only the claims made by Coupang.

(Video reporting: Jung Sang-bo, Yoon Hyung | Video editing: Jang Hyun-ki | Graphics: Kim Ye-ji)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.