Seoul: 'We Don't Discriminate or Target Investigations by Nationality'

South Korea's presidential office has firmly refuted claims that its government discriminates against or targets investigations based on nationality, particularly in response to a recent U.S. House Republican report. The report alleged that the South Korean government has unfairly targeted U.S.-owned companies, including the e-commerce giant Coupang.

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We do not deal with others discriminately based on nationality, nor do we target anyone for investigation.

Woo Sang-wook, Senior Secretary for National Security, stated during a briefing that investigations are conducted in accordance with domestic law and due process, ensuring non-discrimination. He asserted that the U.S. report's content, suggesting discriminatory practices, is significantly at odds with the facts. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Intelligence Service (NIS) have previously expressed regret over the report's one-sided reflection of Coupang's assertions.

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The investigation into Coupang is being conducted legally and without discrimination according to domestic law. The report's claim that the investigation is discriminatory is significantly different from the facts.

The presidential office highlighted a major personal information leak incident involving Coupang, where over 33 million records were reportedly compromised. Woo noted that a former Coupang employee allegedly leaked the data from China, and access logs for 33 million individuals have been identified. He questioned the severity of the situation if such a large-scale leak of personal information, potentially including that of U.S. citizens, occurred and its whereabouts remained unknown, drawing a parallel to a hypothetical scenario involving two-thirds of the U.S. population's data.

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If two-thirds of the U.S. population's personal information were leaked from China and its whereabouts were unknown, it would be a serious issue.

Woo added that the government would engage with the U.S. administration and Congress to convey accurate information and assure them that no tech company, regardless of its origin, is subjected to discriminatory treatment or targeted investigations. He also committed to fulfilling promises made in joint fact sheets and to prevent the issue from negatively impacting other areas of U.S.-South Korea relations. The office also clarified that it was not aware of the recovery of equipment used in the data leak until mid-December, countering claims that the presidential office had instructed Coupang to cooperate with the NIS in retrieving the devices.

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We will strive to ensure that this issue does not negatively impact other areas of Korea-U.S. relations.