Explosive House report reveals secret operation inside China at center of South Korea's fight with US company
The House Judiciary Committee released a scathing report detailing how the left-leaning South Korean government, which some lawmakers say is "aligned with China," has systematically discriminated against American-owned companies.
The report heavily mentions the case of Coupang, a Seattle-based U.S. company dubbed the "Amazon of Korea," though it has no relation to Amazon. Coupang has faced strict scrutiny from the Korean government after a data breach. Coupang recently was fined roughly $410 million by South Korea, the largest privacy fine in South Korea's history.
The Judiciary Committee outlined the timeline of how Coupang came under heavy fire by the South Korean government, from a secret laptop recovery mission to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service calling for Coupang Korea interim CEO Harold Rogers to be charged with perjury. He has yet to be formally charged or indicted and did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Last June, a Chinese national who was a former senior engineer at Coupang began accessing data and consumer information outside of Korea for several months. Coupang's security team confirmed the breach in November, and the Judiciary report detailed that the former employee admitted to stealing an authentication key to gain access to the data.
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Once confirmed last November, Coupang reported the breach to the Korea Internet & Security Agency and said roughly 3,000 accounts had been accessed, according to the report.
In December, the committee said that Coupang was instructed to retrieve the stolen data, which was stored on a laptop and at the bottom of a murky river in China. The report alleged that Coupang was told by South Korea's National Intelligence Service to retrieve the laptop, leading to a covert mission in Chinese territory to recover the data.
Fox News Digital obtained a video of the laptop ultimately being retrieved. The footage showed a man in scuba gear in a muddy river holding up a Coupang bag which contained the device and consumer data. Fox News Digital has not independently authenticated the footage.
Following the recovery, CEO Park Dae-jun resigned from the top job at Coupang Inc., and Harold Rogers was then appointed interim CEO of Coupang Corp., the South Korean subsidiary of the parent company, Coupang Inc.
In late December, Rogers and Coupang executives appeared before the South Korean assembly, where he testified under oath that South Korea's National Intelligence Service instructed the company to retrieve the stolen data.
The Judiciary Committee report backs Rogers' claim, but South Korean officials quickly berated him at the December hearing, and the South Korean government denied that instruction was given to enter Chinese territory and obtain the laptop.
The committee report details documentation of a meeting that took place between Coupang and South Korea's National Intelligence Service where "officials ‘told [Coupang] that they were part of the joint government investigation,’ and that Coupang was ‘legally required’ to ‘work with them.’"
After the denial, South Korean officials called for Rogers to face perjury charges, due to his testimony under oath, and the company would later be fined a historic $410 million in June.
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"We regret the circumstances that led to the House Judiciary Committee’s investigation, and we remain committed to finding a constructive resolution so Coupang can once again serve as a bridge to strengthen the U.S.-Korea alliance, accelerating trade and investment that benefits both countries," a spokesperson for Coupang Inc. told Fox News Digital.
The Judiciary Committee alleged that the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) "has been particularly aggressive in using competition policy to attack American companies," and that "South Korea has used digital laws and regulations as a way to target American companies and limit their ability to operate successfully in South Korea."
Despite Coupang and the Judiciary Committee's pushback, a South Korean embassy spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the country "is fully committed to ensuring a fair and non-discriminatory business environment for all companies regardless of their nationality."
"The Government of the Republic of Korea regrets that the interim staff report published by the U.S. House Judiciary Committee published appears to be largely based on the unilateral assertions of Coupang and respectfully disagrees with several characterizations in the report," the spokesperson told Fox News Digital.
The spokesperson went on to explain that the South Korean Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) imposed the penalties in accordance with their law and that the sanctions remain well below the statutory maximum – despite being the largest issued in Korea.
The spokesperson added that Coupang was given due process throughout the investigation and retains the right to challenge the decision in court, which the company has said it will do while reaffirming South Korea's commitment to its strategic partnership with the United States, saying their government will continue engaging with the U.S. Congress to strengthen bilateral economic ties.
Coupang stock plummeted as the events unfolded, and has tanked more than 45% since the company announced the breach and the South Korean government began retaliating.
The Judiciary report said the "decrease has negatively affected U.S. investors, including public pension funds, mutual funds, and everyday Americans just trying to save for retirement."
South Korea's government recently took a sharp turn to the left after Yoon Suk-yeol, a conservative from the People Power Party, was impeached in December 2024, largely because of his decision to implement martial law over "anti-state forces" that he said were led by the nation's Democratic Party.
President Lee Jae-myung, a Democrat, narrowly lost to Yoon in the 2022 presidential election but won the presidency in 2025. The Democratic Party in South Korea already holds a substantial majority in the National Assembly, and the country is now operating with a full Democratic majority.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., sounded the alarm on South Korea’s distancing from the U.S. during an interview with Fox News Digital in April. Issa sits on the House Judiciary Committee as the most senior member after Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.
"South Korea is still an important strategic partner, but their last election led to a left-wing government closely aligned with China that, among other things, has begun attacking American companies," Issa said.
He explained that Coupang is "owned by and founded by a Korean-American and they have been systematically attacked quite frankly, probably because they're an American company and effectively a unicorn in South Korea," Issa added. "We're seeing that South Korea has adopted the European digital rules which are very much designed to localize rather than accept the great companies that have spread very well around the world because they've earned it."
Issa joined a group of more than 50 GOP members of Congress in a letter to the South Korean ambassador to the United States, Kyung-wha Kang, over what they deemed to be "discriminatory" business practices that are targeting American companies.
A Competere Foundation model in June estimated a $525 billion loss in economic activity in U.S. states over the next decade, including a $123 billion loss for California, a $48.7 billion loss for Texas, a $33.9 billion loss for New York and a $27.4 billion loss for Washington, should South Korea continue to implement policies that would be harmful to U.S. businesses operating in the country.
Proposed pending legislation in South Korea's assembly, would broaden the power of the KFTC, the same agency members of Congress are currently criticizing for unfairly treating American businesses.
Shanker Singham, international trade and competition economist and CEO of the Competere Foundation, said, "Korea is already an increasingly unfriendly place for U.S. companies to do business," adding the "looming regulations will make that environment even worse."