Harold Rogers, interim head of Coupang, will be questioned by police on the 6th on suspicion of giving false testimony at a joint hearing in the National Assembly. It is a week after the first summons.
According to police and others, the anti-corruption investigation unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency will summon Rogers in the afternoon as a suspect for questioning.
At the hearing, Rogers answered to the effect that there had been instructions from the Korea government (National Intelligence Service) regarding how Coupang met and questioned a former Chinese developer suspected of leaking personal information and retrieved a laptop.
However, the National Intelligence Service (NIS) countered that it had not given any instructions to Coupang, and the Science. ICT. Broadcasting. and Communications Committee filed a complaint against seven former and current Coupang executives, including Rogers, on charges of perjury.
Police are expected to press Rogers on the basis for his statement that there were instructions from the National Intelligence Service (NIS).
Rogers also appeared before police on the 30th and was questioned for about 12 hours. As he appeared, Rogers said, "Coupang will fully cooperate with Korea government investigations as it always has," and "We will actively cooperate with today's police investigation."
The U.S. political sphere is pushing back against Korea government's investigation into Coupang. Jim Jordan, the Republican chair of the House Judiciary Committee, and others issued a subpoena ordering Rogers to appear at a hearing on the 23rd, saying, "Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) and other Korea government agencies are further intensifying discriminatory measures against U.S. tech corporations and even raising threats of criminal penalties against U.S. citizens."
It also ordered him to testify about Korea government's "targeting" of U.S. innovation corporations and to submit all records of communications with the Blue House, the government, and the National Assembly.