South Korean e-commerce leader Coupang Corp., a subsidiary of the U.S.-listed giant Coupang Inc., has initiated legal proceedings against the nation’s antitrust regulator. The lawsuit challenges the Fair Trade Commission’s (FTC) decision to designate founder Kim Bom as the company’s de facto controlling individual, according to officials on Monday.
The legal action, filed last Friday with the Seoul High Court, aims to overturn the FTC’s previous month-long designation of Kim Bom as the “same person” effectively controlling the Coupang group.
In the South Korean legal context, the “same person” refers to the individual deemed to hold effective control over a major business conglomerate, like Coupang.
This designation imposes stricter regulatory oversight on the individual, including rigorous disclosure requirements for intra-family financial transactions and compliance with specific rules governing holding company structures.
Significantly, Coupang had previously benefited from an exception, allowing the corporate entity itself, rather than an individual, to be identified as the “same person” for regulatory purposes.
