Coupang Inc., the parent company of Coupang, on the 16th issued a statement regarding a series of reports about lobbying activities in the United States, saying they are "legal activities and smaller in scale than those of major Korean corporations." Having argued that the penalty surcharge over a massive personal data leak was a "targeted sanction," Coupang this time pushed back head-on against the lobbying controversy.
In its statement, Coupang Inc. said, "Lobbying of the U.S. government and political circles is a legal activity guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and a right of responsible citizens," adding, "It is regrettable that despite more than 15,000 corporations and organizations around the world participating in legal lobbying in the United States, it is being mischaracterized as if only Coupang Inc. is uniquely lobbying."
As support, Coupang cited data from the U.S. nonprofit OpenSecrets. It said 15,768 entities communicated directly or through lobbying firms with the U.S. government, the White House, and both chambers of Congress last year, and that this includes many Korean corporations that lobbied the U.S. government directly or hired outside lobbyists. Coupang said, "We are only one among the many major corporations participating in such activities."
It also challenged the criticism of an "astronomical lobbying budget" by focusing on scale. Coupang said its first-quarter lobbying outlay is at most one-tenth that of a major U.S. automaker ($11.38 million) or another tech company ($7.08 million), and smaller than that of major domestic corporations. In particular, it said it transparently discloses expenditure details, including the income of outside lobbying firms, under the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) of the U.S. House, and countered, "Adding the income disclosures of individual lobbying firms to Coupang's expenditure report is double counting and incorrect."
On the purpose of its lobbying, it emphasized that it is "about promoting global exports, trade, and investment." Coupang said that based on Korea-U.S. economic cooperation, it has invested more than 6 trillion won in Korea, built about 100 logistics centers in 30 areas, and created more than 90,000 jobs, and explained that it is focusing on communication to expand global business, including rocket delivery in Taiwan and the luxury e-commerce "Farfetch," which operates in 190 countries. It added that it clearly disclosed lobbying topics in official documents submitted to the U.S. government, saying, "Any misunderstanding or insinuation about other matters is false and constitutes defamation."