Court suspends FTC order naming Coupang founder Bom Kim as controller

Coupang founder Kim Bom-suk / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

A court on Tuesday suspended a Fair Trade Commission (FTC) decision naming Coupang founder Kim Bom-suk, better known as Bom Kim, as the company's legally designated controller.

The Seoul High Court partially granted an injunction filed by Coupang and Kim against the FTC, suspending the commission's decision to name Kim as the company's controller and a related request for him to submit documents.

The FTC's May 1 decision shifting the controller status from Coupang to Kim will stay suspended until 30 days after a ruling in the main case, as will its April 8 document request to Kim.

“There appears to be an urgent need to prevent irreparable harm to the applicants,” the court said. “There is no evidence suggesting the suspension would seriously affect public welfare.”

The change stemmed from this year's process of designating business groups subject to disclosure obligations. The FTC said Coupang did not meet the exception criteria that would have allowed the corporation to be treated as the controlling entity because Kim's younger brother, Kim Yoo-seok, holds substantial influence over the management of domestic affiliates.

Coupang countered that neither Kim nor his relatives hold stakes in those affiliates, meaning there is no risk of unfair profit transfers, and sought the injunction while separately suing to cancel the designation.

Under the ruling, Coupang will not have to disclose stock holdings and transaction records involving domestic and overseas companies held by Kim and his relatives until a final ruling is issued. The designation's legality will be decided in the main case.