Exclusive: Why Did the Court Suspend the Designation of Coupang's Founder as 'Business Group Chief'?

[Anchor]

A court has suspended the effect of the Fair Trade Commission's (FTC) decision to designate Coupang founder Kim Bom-suk as the business group chief. The court determined that the designation could cause irreparable harm. A review of the court's decision reveals that issues surrounding the scope of data submission were a key factor in this ruling.

Min Gyeongho reports exclusively.

[Reporter]

In April, the Fair Trade Commission newly designated Coupang Inc. Chairman Kim Bom-suk as the business group chief, or the de facto head of the conglomerate.

Once designated as the business group chief, the individual is subject to regulations against private profit-taking and must annually report and disclose the scope of affiliates, the status of relatives, and their stock transaction details.

In response, Coupang filed an administrative lawsuit along with an application for an injunction to suspend the effect of the designation. The Seoul High Court has partially accepted the application.

Upon obtaining and reviewing the court's decision, it was confirmed that the court explained its reasoning by stating, "Given the scope of data submission and the additional sanctions that could be imposed in case of non-compliance, there is a demonstrated need to prevent irreparable harm."

Previously, Coupang had argued that designating Chairman Kim as the business group chief would lead to the disclosure of non-public information.

Coupang claimed that as a company listed in the United States, it must follow the regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and that the designation would require it to submit more data to the Korean FTC than what the SEC requires.

The company argued that this could expose it to class-action lawsuits from investors in the U.S.

Some point out that if this logic is accepted in the main lawsuit, it could raise issues of equity between companies listed on the U.S. stock market and those that are not.

[Interview] Oh Se-hyung / Team Leader, Economic Policy Team at Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice: "Despite generating operating profits in Korea, they are trying to be regulated by the U.S. instead, which raises questions about whether this is a shallow trick to avoid regulatory blind spots..."

The court's decision also included the fact that about two months before the FTC announced the designation of Chairman Kim as Coupang's business group chief, the FTC had requested data from both Coupang and Chairman Kim, but Chairman Kim had refused to submit it.

Reported by Min Gyeongho | Video by Yoo Mi-ra | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.