Washington: Trade Minister Yeo Han-koo has met with U.S. lawmakers and officials to dispel concerns over South Korea's ongoing investigation into a massive data breach at Coupang Inc., warning against the issue evolving into a trade row between the two countries, Yeo's office said Thursday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Yeo traveled to Washington this week to meet with several U.S. lawmakers, including Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Dave McCormick (R-PA), and Todd Young (R-IN), as well as Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA). Yeo also held discussions with officials from U.S. think tanks and business associations, including the Coalition of Services Industries, the Computer and Communications Industry Association, and the Center for Strategic and International Studies, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources.
Yeo's visit to the U.S. was prompted by concerns from Washington over Korea's recent push for digital regulations, including the recently revised network act, and scrutiny into Coupang's data leak incident. Earlier this week, Smith, chair of the trade subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representative's Ways and Means Committee, claimed Korean regulators appear to be "aggressively" targeting U.S. technology firms, including Coupang, through "discriminatory" actions.
To address these concerns, Yeo informed U.S. lawmakers that Korean authorities are investigating the Coupang case in compliance with related laws, and it is inappropriate to interpret the matter as a trade issue between Seoul and Washington, the ministry stated. Coupang, which suffered a leak of personal information from about 34 million customers late last year, is a U.S.-listed firm founded by Korean American Kim Bom-suk, or Bom Kim, and generates about 90 percent of its sales in Korea.
In addition, Yeo met with the U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to hold follow-up discussions on non-tariff barrier issues included in the two countries' trade deal. Yeo also emphasized to Greer that Korea should not face unfavorable treatment compared with other nations concerning the U.S. Supreme Court's planned ruling on the legality of President Donald Trump's administration's reciprocal tariffs on America's trading partners, stressing that Korea is one of the few countries that have reached a trade agreement with the U.S.
"The U.S. has been showing high expectations for trade and investment cooperation with Korea following the bilateral tariff deal, but we need to carefully manage risk factors, such as digital trade issues and the anticipated tariff ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court," Yeo stated in a press release. "We will continue our efforts to expand outreach to the U.S. as it is important to accurately explain and communicate the intentions and background of our policies to the U.S. government, Congress, and industries."