Chairperson Ju Biung-ghi of the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) on the 30th signaled a back-to-square-one review regarding the designation of Kim Beom-suk, Coupang Inc. board chair, as the same person (head of the group). The same person for Coupang is currently the Coupang corporation.
The Chairperson attended a National Assembly hearing that day titled "Hearing to assess Coupang's intrusion incident and personal data leak, unfair transaction, labor environment, and to prepare measures to prevent recurrence," and said, "We plan to review again this time (regarding the plan to designate Chair Kim as the same person of Coupang)." The Chairperson also said, "In the past, we judged that Vice President Kim Yu-seok, (Chair Kim's younger brother), was not participating in management, so we saw that the requirements for designating the same person were not met."
Earlier, last year the Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) allowed a corporation, not an individual, to be designated as the same person if conditions such as no relatives participating in management at domestic affiliates were met. Thanks to this, the same person for Coupang was designated as the Coupang corporation, not Chair Kim.
However, at the National Assembly that day, allegations arose that Chair Kim's younger brother, Kim Yu-seok, was involved in management with the title of vice president and received about 3 billion won last year, combining salary and restricted stock units (RSUs). The exclusion of relatives from management—the basis for not designating Chair Kim as Coupang's same person—collapsed. In response, Coupang CEO Harold Rogers said of Vice President Kim's salary level, "That level of pay is on the lower side compared to similar executives." He also said, "Kim Yu-seok is an employee, not an executive."
If Chair Kim is designated as the same person, he will be obligated to submit various materials related to the business group, including the assets of himself and relatives and transaction details. Violating this obligation can lead to a referral to prosecutors under the Fair Trade Act.