Kim Beom-suk, chair of Coupang Inc., who is considered the person effectively controlling Coupang, is again being discussed as a possible designee as the same person (head of an enterprise group) under the Fair Trade Act. The Korea Fair Trade Commission said it will closely examine whether Coupang, which currently has a corporation designated as the same person, meets the exception requirements.
On the 29th, according to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC), whether to designate Kim as the same person could be subject to review in light of recent questions over involvement in management. The same person refers to a natural person or a corporation that effectively controls an enterprise group, and it is finalized by designation from the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC).
When a natural person is designated as the same person, the individual is commonly called the "head," and not only the person but also relatives are subject to disclosure obligations for their stock holdings and transaction histories. If Kim is designated as the same person, Coupang could be subject to additional regulations under the Fair Trade Act, including disclosure of relatives' transactions, holding company regulations, and voting rights restrictions.
In May this year, when it announced the business groups subject to disclosure, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) designated Coupang's same person as the "Coupang corporation," not Kim. At the time, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) cited as grounds that ▲ even if a corporation is viewed as the same person, the scope of domestic affiliates would not change, ▲ neither Kim nor his relatives had investments in domestic affiliates, and ▲ there was no confirmation of relatives serving as executives or participating in management, or of debt guarantees or fund lending and borrowing.
However, as it became known recently that Executive Vice President Kim Yu-seok, Kim's younger brother, received tens of billions of won in compensation, questions have been raised over whether relatives are participating in management. Under the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC)'s exception criteria, to designate a corporation as the same person, relatives must not serve as executives or participate in management.
An official at the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said, "We are closely looking into whether Coupang meets the exception requirements for the same person," and added, "If we determine that the requirements are not met, we will consider changing the same person from a corporation to a natural person." However, since the same person designation is made once a year, a related decision is expected to be concluded in the process of designating business groups subject to disclosure in May next year.