Visitors descend a stairway along the East Front Plaza on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, June 29, in this Getty Images photo. AFP-Yonhap
WASHINGTON — A U.S. House committee on Wednesday released a report accusing Korea of "discriminatory attacks" on e-commerce giant Coupang Inc. and other American companies, claiming the Asian country's treatment of them violates last year's bilateral trade deal.
The House Judiciary Committee issued the 35-page interim staff report, titled "Closed for Competition: Korea's Discriminatory Attacks on American-owned Businesses," as Coupang has faced public criticism and investigations for a massive data leak in Korea.
The report particularly zeroes in on Korean authorities' probes into the data breach case of Coupang, which it says has been a "consistent target" of the Seoul government, at a time when Seoul wants to ensure that the case does not get in the way of the two countries' cooperation on security, trade and other fronts.
"Korea has a long history of engaging in economic discrimination against foreign companies," it says.
