MAGA House Foreign Affairs Chairman Mast Raises Coupang Issue and Pressures U.S. Investment

U.S. Representative Brian Mast (Republican-Florida), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, claimed that the South Korean government is harming American companies, citing the "Coupang issue."

In an interview with Fox News on the night of the 23rd (local time), Chairman Mast stated, "They (the South Korean government) are hurting American companies like Coupang."

He continued, "They are not fulfilling their promises to provide more semiconductors and ships and to support us in the U.S. regarding those matters."

Chairman Mast's remarks that the South Korean government is discriminating against U.S. companies like Coupang are consistent with arguments that have been raised within the Donald Trump administration and the Republican Party.

The claim that South Korea is failing to fulfill its promise to provide more semiconductors and ships is interpreted as pressure urging South Korea to accelerate its investments in the United States.

Chairman Mast is classified as belonging to the MAGA (Make America Great Again) faction, which strongly supports President Trump.

President Trump expressed his support for Chairman Mast's midterm election bid on his social media platform Truth Social on the 17th, praising him as a "MAGA warrior."

Chairman Mast also linked the background of President Trump's recent directive to scale back South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises to the South Korean government's attempts to improve inter-Korean relations.

He said, "President Trump looked at it and thought, 'If you guys (the two Koreas) are trying to improve relations, and we don't want an enemy (North Korea) on a trajectory toward war, what is the point of holding these exercises?'"

Previously, Chairman Mast joined two other Republican House members in signing a letter led by Representative Young Kim (Republican-California) urging the lifting of a departure ban on former Liberty University law professor Moss Tan (Korean name Dan Hyun-myung), a Korean-American.

The letter, sent to South Korean Ambassador to the U.S. Kang Kyung-wha on the 13th, stated that former Professor Tan "has been subjected to remarkably unfair treatment by the South Korean government due to statements he made while in the United States," adding that "such treatment raises serious concerns regarding freedom of expression and due process."

Former Professor Tan is currently indicted without detention on charges of spreading false information regarding President Lee Jae-myung during a press conference held in Washington, D.C., last year.

(Photo: Getty Images)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.