More than 50 U.S. House members criticized that the Lee Jae-myung administration is treating U.S. corporations discriminatorily.
According to Fox News on the 21st, U.S. lawmakers said the Korean government is attacking U.S. corporations while giving preferential treatment to Chinese corporations, criticizing it as a "left-wing government closely aligned with China."
Fox News said that in a letter led by Republican Rep. Darrell Issa, more than 50 House members conveyed to Ambassador to the United States Kang Kyung-hwa their concerns about the Korean government's "discriminatory" policies toward corporations.
The letter said, "Many U.S. technology corporations are undergoing various regulatory actions intended to punish them, resulting in protection for competing corporations in Korea."
The lawmakers, citing research by the U.S. think tank Competere, argued that Korea's discriminatory regulations will cause a total loss of $1 trillion (about 1,478 trillion won) to the U.S. and Korean economies over the next 10 years, of which the U.S. economy will suffer about $525 billion (about 776 trillion won) in damage.
The lawmakers also mentioned Coupang, which underwent an all-out investigation and audit by the Korean government over a personal information leak, and said, "The Korean government must stop its persecution of Coupang and other U.S. corporations operating in Korea. This is directly tied to U.S. economic and security interests."
In an interview with Fox News, Issa said, "Korea remains an important strategic ally," but added, "Since the recent election, a left-wing government closely aligned with China has taken power, and attacks on U.S. corporations have begun in various respects."
He added, "Not only large corporations like Meta but also Coupang are targets," and said, "Coupang was founded and is owned by a Korean American, yet it is under systematic pressure. It may be because it is a U.S. corporation and also a Korean unicorn corporation."