Court allows resumption of Coupang inspection in South Korea — Korea Herald

South Korea’s antitrust regulator plans to resume its inspection of U.S.-listed Coupang Inc. after a local court rejected the company’s request to halt the investigation. Korea Herald reports.

Antitrust regulator’s position

Fair Trade Commission Chairman Joo Byung-gi said in an interview with local broadcaster CBS that the agency would work to “restore fairness” after the inspection was halted. According to him, Coupang works with many suppliers, and the company may face regulatory measures if it imposed unfavorable terms on them.

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The official also said that, in his view, the judge took into account the public interest, including the rights of economically vulnerable people and hundreds of thousands of small business owners. Earlier this month, Joo called the court’s intervention in the regulator’s inspection regrettable.

Nature of the claims against Coupang

Last month, Coupang refused to cooperate with an on-site inspection by the Fair Trade Commission. The regulator is examining claims that the company shifted the costs of discounts onto its suppliers. Coupang then went to court seeking to suspend the inspection. The court initially temporarily halted the on-site inspection, but last week rejected the company’s request to stop it.