South Korea levies $410 million fine on Coupang amid regulatory crackdown

South Korean authorities imposed a record $410 million privacy‑related fine on U.S.–headquartered e‑commerce platform Coupang, the largest penalty in the country’s history. The fine followed a data breach that exposed roughly 3,000 user accounts, an incident in which a former engineer stole authentication keys and accessed data from abroad. After the breach, Coupang was allegedly directed by South Korea’s National Intelligence Service to retrieve a compromised laptop from a river in China, a mission captured on video but not independently verified.

In the wake of these events, Coupang’s CEO Park Dae‑joon resigned and interim CEO Harold Rogers took over. South Korean officials have threatened perjury charges against Rogers, while the U.S. House Judiciary Committee released a report accusing the South Korean government of targeting American firms, especially Coupang, with disproportionately large penalties. The report highlights a broader pattern of discriminatory enforcement affecting small sellers that rely on the platform for market access.

The Korea Fair Trade Commission has imposed more than two trillion won (about $1.33 billion) in fines across sectors since June 2025, with U.S. firms bearing a disproportionate share. The episode has raised concerns in Washington about the fairness of South Korea’s competition policy and its impact on bilateral trade relations.