White House says South Korean government is 'singling out' Coupang

The Trump administration said Wednesday (local time) that the South Korean government is targeting Coupang Inc in connection with a massive personal data breach that has embroiled the e-commerce company.

A White House official, responding to questions from South Korean media about a report on Coupang released the previous day by the US House Judiciary Committee, said the Trump administration is "deeply concerned" about what it described as South Korea's discriminatory targeting of American technology companies. "By any reasonable standard, the Lee Jae Myung administration is singling out Coupang," the official said.

The official added that "the Trump administration will not tolerate unfair trade practices, including restrictions on market access for American digital services."

The White House's stance largely endorses the Coupang-related findings in the House Judiciary Committee report, which accused South Korea of discriminating against US companies. The 35-page report, released the previous day, has drawn criticism for largely reproducing the company's own one-sided account.

South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed regret over the report, saying it reflects only Coupang's claims, does not accurately represent the facts, and fails to incorporate the positions and information the South Korean government had conveyed to the committee. The National Intelligence Service also issued a rebuttal statement calling the Coupang-related claims in the report "clearly false."