Fair Trade Commission Withdraws Empty-Handed After Coupang's Resistance, First in History

[Anchor]

It has been belatedly confirmed that the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) launched an on-site inspection to look into allegations that Coupang passed on discount costs, but withdrew after Coupang refused to cooperate. This marks the first time an on-site inspection has been halted due to a company's resistance.

Reporter Lee Seong-hoon has the details.

[Reporter]

The FTC launched its on-site inspection into Coupang on the 19th.

The move was aimed at verifying allegations that Coupang passed the costs of price-matching coupons onto suppliers.

However, it was confirmed that investigators had to turn back after Coupang refused the inspection.

Coupang argued that the FTC violated the procedure under the Framework Act on Administrative Investigations, which requires a written advance notice seven days prior to an on-site inspection.

Coupang stated, "We have cooperated with legitimate on-site investigations conducted since January of this year, and we will seek the court's judgment on the legality of this investigation."

However, the FTC maintains that this case falls under exceptions to the advance notice obligation.

[Oh Dong-wook / Director-General for Fair Trade Investigation, Fair Trade Commission: If there is concern about the destruction of evidence during an administrative investigation, advance notice is not required. We judged that this case met those grounds, and since the enactment of the Large-Scale Retail Business Act, we have never conducted an investigation with prior notice.]

The FTC attempted on-site inspections a total of four times up until yesterday (the 24th), but the investigations ultimately failed to take place due to Coupang's refusal.

This is the first time an on-site inspection has fallen through due to opposition from the target company.

On the 21st, Coupang also filed a lawsuit seeking the cancellation of the FTC's decision to launch an ex officio investigation.

The FTC considers Coupang's refusal to be an obstruction of investigation and is reviewing plans to impose fines of up to 200 million won.

(Video Editing: Kim Yoon-sung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.