US politicians mobilize to shield Coupang

Coupang's significant spending on lobbying politicians in the United States has apparently paid off, with Republicans criticizing the Korean government's ongoing investigation into the Seattle-headquartered e-commerce firm. They have denounced Korea's probe into Coupang as an attempt to favor China, while remaining silent on the company's massive data breach of the personal information of 33.7 million users, allegedly by a former employee who is a Chinese national. Amid growing suspicion that Coupang has been trying to turn the matter into a diplomatic feud, Seoul is now keeping a close watch on the company's suspected connections with U.S. government officials and lawmakers. Robert O'Brien, who served as national security adviser during the first Donald Trump administration, said Tuesday (local time) that the National Assembly's aggressive targeting of Coupang will set the stage for further discriminatory measures by the Korean Fair Trade Commission and broader regulatory barriers toward U.S. firms. "Trump has worked hard to rebalance the trade relationship with Korea, and it would be v