Chairmen Jordan and Fitzgerald Demand Information About South Korea's Discrimination Against American Companies
February 5, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust Chairman Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI) continued an ongoing investigation into South Korea's discriminatory targeting of innovative American companies and issued a subpoena to Coupang, Inc. for documents and communications between Coupang and the Korean government as well as testimony before the Committee.
The Trump Administration's recent trade agreement with South Korea
specifically provides that it must ensure that U.S. companies are not discriminated against and do not face unnecessary barriers in terms of laws and policies concerning digital services, including online platform regulations. Despite this agreement, the Korean government has continued to engage in targeted attacks on American-owned businesses in order to benefit their Korean and Chinese competitors.
Korean regulators and enforcement agencies, including the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC), have repeatedly subjected an innovative American e-commerce company, Coupang, Inc., to discriminatory treatment, unfair enforcement practices, and even the threat of criminal penalties. The Korean government has called for aggressive penalties and hefty fines against Coupang, suggested temporarily suspending the company's business operations, and even threatened the interim CEO of Coupang's South Korean subsidiary, an American citizen, with criminal charges.
The targeting of Coupang and the potential prosecution of its American executives serve as a sharp escalation of South Korea's campaign against innovative American-owned companies and directly conflicts with its recent commitment to avoid discriminatory treatment and the creation of unnecessary barriers for U.S. digital service providers.
Read the full subpoena cover letter here.
The Trump Administration's recent trade agreement with South Korea
specifically provides that it must ensure that U.S. companies are not discriminated against and do not face unnecessary barriers in terms of laws and policies concerning digital services, including online platform regulations. Despite this agreement, the Korean government has continued to engage in targeted attacks on American-owned businesses in order to benefit their Korean and Chinese competitors.
Korean regulators and enforcement agencies, including the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC), have repeatedly subjected an innovative American e-commerce company, Coupang, Inc., to discriminatory treatment, unfair enforcement practices, and even the threat of criminal penalties. The Korean government has called for aggressive penalties and hefty fines against Coupang, suggested temporarily suspending the company's business operations, and even threatened the interim CEO of Coupang's South Korean subsidiary, an American citizen, with criminal charges.
The targeting of Coupang and the potential prosecution of its American executives serve as a sharp escalation of South Korea's campaign against innovative American-owned companies and directly conflicts with its recent commitment to avoid discriminatory treatment and the creation of unnecessary barriers for U.S. digital service providers.
Read the full subpoena cover letter here.
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