Coupang asked a court to block employees who developed "Rocket Delivery" from changing jobs, but the request was rejected.
The Seoul Eastern District Court's Civil Division 21 (Presiding Judge Kim Jeong-min) said on the 9th that it rejected on the 24th Coupang's request for an injunction, including a non-compete order, against executives A and B of Musinsa.
Earlier, Coupang argued that the two should not take jobs at Musinsa and elsewhere through the first half of next year, or solicit current employees to move. The claim was that the two, who were involved in developing Rocket Delivery, a core technology of Coupang, received high salaries and bonuses but violated a non-compete agreement and leaked trade secrets.
On this, the court said, "Salary and bonuses are only compensation for long-term service and the provision of labor, and cannot be seen as separate compensation for post-retirement silence or restrictions on career choice." It also said of Rocket Delivery, "It is a concept that corporations overseas have already adopted and that is widely known, or information disclosed through patents and the like."
Coupang objected to the rejection and filed an appeal brief on the 8th.