Korea's National Assembly Voices Regret Over U.S. House Report on Coupang Hearing

Korea's National Assembly on Wednesday expressed regret over a U.S. House Judiciary Committee report that criticized as "discriminatory" a joint hearing held over Coupang's personal data breach.

In a statement that day, the National Assembly Secretariat said the assessment "was made based on partial facts, without sufficiently reflecting the National Assembly's constitutional powers and its meeting procedures."

The National Assembly rebutted the report, saying, "The joint hearing was a lawfully convened meeting held in accordance with the National Assembly Act, pursuant to the National Assembly's constitutional responsibilities." It added that the hearing "was not an exceptional procedure targeting a specific company, but the National Assembly's general mode of operation for reviewing complex pending issues."

"The U.S. House report evaluates the nature of the hearing based only on remarks by some lawmakers and individual scenes during the hearing process," it said. "This fails to sufficiently reflect the overall context of the lengthy questioning and answers, the public interest and social awareness of the issue at the time, and the National Assembly's function of overseeing state affairs."

The National Assembly said it "will faithfully carry out the responsibilities granted by the Constitution and laws for the protection of citizens' personal information and the public interest, while continuously striving to ensure that the international community's understanding of our National Assembly's system and parliamentary operations is based on objective facts and sufficient communication."

In December last year, multiple standing committees, including the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, held a joint hearing and summoned Coupang officials, including Chief Executive Officer Harold Rogers, to hold them accountable for the data breach.

In its report Monday, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee claimed that "lawmakers revealed that the Korean government's attitude toward American companies is blatantly hostile and discriminatory."