Coupang, Korea's No. 1 e-commerce corporations, was found to have lobbied the U.S. political and government circles, including the White House, after a massive data leak.
According to the U.S. Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) report on the 23rd (local time), CoupangInc, Coupang's parent company based in Seattle, Washington, reported spending $1.09 million (about 1.6 billion won) on lobbying expenditure in the first quarter of this year.
There are seven lobbying firms in Washington, D.C., that conducted lobbying at Coupang's request. The combined reported income of six of them was $695,000. One reported receiving less than $5,000 but did not specify the exact amount.
Coupang's lobbying targeted government agencies including the U.S. Senate and House and other federal lawmakers, as well as the State Department, the Treasury Department, the Commerce Department, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR), the Agriculture Department, and the Small Business Administration. In particular, the U.S. vice president and the White House chief of staff were also included as lobbying targets.
Earlier, U.S. Vice President JD Vance, when meeting Prime Minister Kim Min-seok at the White House in January during Kim's visit to the United States, mentioned the Coupang situation and asked what specific issues related to Coupang existed in Korea. Vice President Vance also asked Kim to ensure the situation is managed so it does not cause misunderstandings between the two governments.