Seoul court suspends FTC order naming Coupang founder controlling entity
The ruling hands Coupang a win, if a temporary one, freeing Bom Kim from the yearly disclosure duties that fall on a controlling entity and from the criminal liability that noncompliance would carry.
Coupang Founder Bom Kim poses in front of the New York Stock Exchange building facade before his company's IPO on March 11, 2021.NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE
The Seoul High Court on Tuesday suspended the Fair Trade Commission's (FTC) decision to designate Coupang founder Bom Kim as the e-commerce group's controlling entity, the person the antitrust regulator deems to hold effective control of the group.
The court granted Coupang's applications to halt both the redesignation and a separate FTC demand for documents. The stay will hold until 30 days after judgment is handed down in the company's main lawsuit against the commission.
The ruling hands Coupang a win, if a temporary one. It frees Kim, for now, from the yearly disclosure duties that fall on a controlling entity and from the criminal liability that noncompliance would carry, and it blocks the FTC's demand for his data. In effect, it delays the regulator's drive to pin personal, and potentially criminal, responsibility on him until the courts rule on the main case.
The court weighed the potential harm to Coupang against any cost to the public.
"There is an urgent need to prevent irreparable harm to Coupang," the court said, "and no evidence that [the suspension] runs counter to the public welfare."
The court applied the same reasoning to the FTC's demand for documents. It held that the demand, too, was an administrative action open to challenge and that Coupang's request to suspend it was justified.
The FTC announced the change on April 29, as part of its 2026 roster of business groups required to make public disclosures. It moved Coupang's controlling-entity designation from the corporation itself to Bom Kim, the board chairman of Coupang Inc.
Coupang Inc. is the Seattle-based parent company of Coupang, Korea's largest e-commerce platform.
The commission said Coupang no longer qualified for an exception that had let it name the corporation rather than a person, because Bom Kim's younger brother, Kim Yoo-seok, a Coupang vice president, is effectively involved in running the company.
Bom Kim, CEO of e-commerce retailer Coupang, speaks at a warehouse in Seoul on June 21, 2018.REUTERS/YONHAP
As a controlling entity, Bom Kim must report to the commission every year and disclose to the public the domestic and overseas affiliate holdings of himself, his spouse, blood relatives within four degrees of kinship and in-laws within three degrees. Noncompliance is a criminal offense.
Coupang objected at once and went to court.
"The FTC abruptly changed a controlling-entity designation it had maintained for five years, with no special change in circumstances," the company said.
Along with the suit, it asked the court to suspend both the redesignation and the demand for documents until the main case is finally decided.
The heart of the coming trial will be whether Kim's younger brother genuinely helps run Coupang.
The commission argues that an on-site inspection in January revealed that Kim Yoo-seok decides the company's key issues and shapes how its business is run.
Coupang counters that the commission itself found in 2023 that Kim Yoo-seok was not involved in management, and that nothing has changed since, yet it reversed course anyway.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
