Bom Kim designated as legal leader of Coupang, faces heavier regulatory scrutiny

The flags of Korea, the United States and Coupang hang at New York Stock Exchange, March 11, 2021, when Coupang Inc., the U.S.-headquartered holding firm of Coupang, began its trading. Yonhap

Korea’s antitrust watchdog on Wednesday named Coupang founder Kim Bom-suk, better known as Bom Kim, as the legally designated controller of the e-commerce giant, a move that will put him under a wider range of regulatory scrutiny.

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) released its 2026 list of business groups subject to public disclosure, and designated Kim, the board chairman of Coupang’s U.S.-based parent company Coupang Inc., as the group’s “same person” — a legal term referring to an individual deemed to effectively control a conglomerate.

The term is based on the concept that all affiliates in a business group are de facto controlled by a single individual and treated as one economic entity. Once designated, the person and their relatives are required to submit extensive disclosures on governance and shareholding. The designation also subjects the group to broader regulations on issues such as unfair intra-group support and circular shareholding.

Kim, a U.S. national, became the second foreign national designated as a controlling figure of a Korean conglomerate, following OCI Holdings Chairman Lee Woo-hyun.

Coupang was first categorized as a conglomerate by the FTC in 2021, as its aggregated assets surpassed 5 trillion won ($3.39 billion). Until Wednesday, Coupang’s legally recognized leader had been its corporate entity rather than an individual, as the regulation provides an exemption when the apparent controlling person and their relatives are not involved in managing domestic affiliates.

The FTC said, however, that Kim’s younger brother, Kim Yoo-seok, has served as Coupang’s vice president, received annual compensation comparable to that of the company’s board members, led corporate meetings on logistics and delivery policies and exerted influence over the company’s key businesses.

Kim Yoo-seok is an unregistered executive at Coupang Inc. who currently oversees the delivery camp management division as vice president. According to a filing submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, he received approximately 630 million won in salary last year. But Coupang has emphasized that he was dispatched from its U.S. headquarters to the Korean operation and was not actually involved in the company's management.

The FTC said it secured evidence that the younger Kim is involved in Coupang's management after launching a broad on-site inspection of Coupang’s headquarters earlier this year following last year’s massive customer data breach.

“Information such as his salary and rank had already been disclosed at the National Assembly hearing over the Coupang data breach late last year,” FTC Business Group Monitoring Bureau Director Choi Jang-gwan said during a press briefing.

“The on-site inspection additionally found that Coupang has internal grades tied to participation in major decision-making, and Kim Yoo-seok was ranked near the very top.”

Coupang founder Kim Bom-suk attends the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference in Idaho, July 8, 2022. Courtesy of Coupang

With founder Kim now legally recognized as Coupang’s leader, the authority’s regulatory scope will shift from a corporate entity-based framework to one centered on Kim himself.

First, the scope of Coupang Group affiliates could be redefined based on the shareholding of Kim and his relatives. Transactions involving affiliates in which Kim or his relatives hold stakes above a certain threshold would then face stricter scrutiny. However, this may not be the most pressing issue, as the Kim family mostly holds shares in Coupang Inc. but not in domestic affiliates.

A bigger concern for Coupang is that it will be required to submit annual business group designation filings to the FTC, including details on affiliates, shareholding status, lists of executives and other information the company has so far not been required to disclose. Failure to disclose such information or submitting false filings could expose the company to criminal penalties or administrative fines.

“Founder Kim will be required to disclose overseas affiliates in which he holds more than a 20 percent stake,” Choi said. “If an overseas affiliate directly or indirectly holds shares in a domestic affiliate, Kim’s ownership must also be disclosed.”

Coupang said in a statement that it will file an administrative suit against the decision.

It stressed that it has no risk of exploiting corporate benefits for private purposes, the core reason for imposing the regulation, because its governance structure is highly simplified and the Kim family holds no stakes in Korean affiliates.

“As a U.S.-listed company, Coupang Inc. is subject to strict oversight obligations, requirements mandated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission,” Coupang said. “The Korean Coupang entity has consistently met the conditions for exemption from same-person designation.”

It added that Kim Yoo-seok is not an executive under the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act, and the vice president does not have a stake in Coupang’s Korean affiliates.

Besides the administrative suit planned by the company, further legal or administrative actions are likely to follow, experts say.

“The same-person regulation is a system unique to Korea, designed to curb the concentration of power among chaebol conglomerates,” said Choi June-sun, professor emeritus of law at Sungkyunkwan University.

“From the U.S. perspective, where there may be limited understanding of that background, there is a high chance they will seek various types of judicial reviews over the concentration of legal responsibility on a single person (Bom Kim) and whether Kim Yoo-seok in fact exercises controlling influence over Coupang.”

Industry officials said the issue could escalate into legal disputes between investors and Korea. Given that 70 to 80 percent of Coupang Inc.’s shareholders are global financial investors, a possible impact on the company’s stock price following the new regulation could result in investor-state litigation at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes.

The designation is also expected to trigger strong objections from the U.S., potentially reigniting trade and diplomatic friction between Seoul and Washington.

So far, U.S. politicians have voiced concerns that the Korean government is pursuing regulations unfavorable to U.S. companies. Last week, members of the U.S. Republican Study Committee sent a letter of complaint to Korean Ambassador to the U.S. Kang Kyung-wha, urging Korea to stop “discriminatory regulatory acts” against American firms.

Coupang argues that designating Kim as the group’s legally recognized leader could violate the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. Under the pact’s “most favored nation” treatment obligations, U.S. investors cannot be treated less favorably than those from third countries, and Coupang claims the designation could amount to discrimination against the company.