FTC names Coupang chair as controlling shareholder

Kim Bum-seok, chairman of Coupang Inc. and its de facto leader, has been designated the controlling head of the business group by South Korea’s antitrust regulator, a move that subjects him to tighter rules on insider dealings. Coupang said it will challenge the decision in court.

On April 29, the Fair Trade Commission said it will revise its list of large business groups effective May 1, naming Kim as the group’s controlling figure. It is the first change since Coupang was classified as a large business group in 2021 after its assets exceeded 5 trillion won.

The shift follows findings that Kim’s younger brother, Kim Yoo-seok, played a management role. An unregistered executive at Coupang Inc., he has been working in South Korea on a secondment basis. Regulators had previously viewed him as outside the executive ranks because he did not sit on the board and earned about 500 million won annually, below the roughly 3 billion won paid to registered executives.

A recent on-site inspection, however, found his position was equivalent to a senior vice president, one of the company’s highest ranks. His compensation, including restricted stock units, was also comparable to that of registered executives. He chaired hundreds of meetings on logistics and delivery policy and called in senior officials, including the head of Coupang Logistics Service, to review weekly performance. Authorities concluded he exercised significant influence over key business decisions.

With Kim now formally designated, Coupang will face stricter oversight. The company must disclose overseas affiliates in which the owner family, defined as relatives within four degrees of kinship and in-laws within three, holds at least a 20 percent stake. It will also fall under expanded rules banning unfair internal transactions. Kim becomes the second foreign national to be designated as the head of a large business group in South Korea, following Lee Woo-hyun.

Choi Jang-kwan, director general at the Fair Trade Commission, said the decision aligns control with accountability by formally recognizing the individual who effectively leads the group as responsible under regulatory policy.

Coupang objected to the decision and said it will pursue legal action. The company had raised similar concerns during consultations with the regulator ahead of the designation.


세종=김수연 기자 syeon@donga.com