Bom Kim, the founder of Coupang and CEO of Coupang Inc., poses in front of the New York Stock Exchange on March 11, 2021, when the company made its initial public offering. (AP/Yonhap)
The head of the Korea Fair Trade Commission said that the agency would have “no choice” but to bring criminal proceedings against Coupang founder Bom Kim for allegedly submitting falsified records to the KFTC to avoid designation as the company’s controlling entity.KFTC Chairperson Ju Biung-ghi addressed the allegations during a press briefing Wednesday at the government complex in Sejong.“Coupang wrote a pledge promising that members of the controlling family were not involved in management. Since then, we have found evidence showing that the pledge was violated, leading the KFTC to recognize Kim as the de facto controlling entity of the company. As such, the commission has no choice but to investigate and pursue sanctions,” Ju said. “When false statements are proven, the only options under current law are criminal referral and criminal sanctions,” he said. The KFTC received a written statement from Kim in 2024 in which he promised that his family would play no role in the company’s management, and Ju’s remarks have been interpreted as indicating that Kim may face legal repercussions for submitting falsified records to the commission. The KFTC had designated Coupang’s Korean subsidiary as the “same person” — a legal term referring to a company’s controlling entity — on the grounds that Kim’s family was not involved in domestic management. However, the commission confirmed in a probe earlier this year that Kim’s brother, Kim Yoo-suk, had taken part in management activities in Korea, which then led to the commission’s designation of Bom Kim as the controlling entity last month. “We will push for the introduction of administrative fines to ensure that strong economic sanctions commensurate with the severity of the violation are imposed for the submission of false materials,” Ju added. According to the KFTC, the current Fair Trade Act only stipulates criminal punishment for the submission of false materials, but the requirements for imposing such penalties are so strict that it has not been sufficient to effectively deter violations. “We plan to impose a fixed-amount administrative fine on controlling entities. While the exact amount is yet to be fixed, discussions are underway within the maximum limit of 20 billion won for such fines,” stated Ju. 20 billion won comes to around US$13 million.
