Anchor: South Korea's corporate watchdog named e-commerce giant Coupang as one of eight business groups with assets of five trillion won or more that will be subject to tougher filing regulations. Coupang's American CEO Kim Beom-seok, however, was not named the company chief due to his nationality.
Choi You Sun reports.

Report: The Fair Trade Commission(FTC) on Thursday announced an updated list of 71 large business groups with assets of five trillion won or more that are required to publicly file their business information.

The list includes eight new groups, including e-commerce giant Coupang, whose total assets are estimated at five-point-eight trillion won.

After reportedly mulling over designating Coupang's American founder and CEO Kim Beom-seok as the company chief, which would then subject Kim to a mandatory filing of transactions with family members, the FTC decided against it.

The watchdog instead designated Coupang Corporation as the company chief, citing a lack of precedent in giving a foreigner such status and difficulties in criminally sanctioning one.

The decision, however, will likely face criticism as the Coupang CEO will be able to avoid state regulations, despite conducting most of his business in the country.

The FTC, meanwhile, vowed to seek measures to clarify what should constitute a company chief.

The watchdog also placed 40 conglomerates with assets of ten trillion won or more on its list of companies under supervision that are banned from equity investments among affiliates or inter-affiliate loan guarantees.
Choi You Sun, KBS World Radio News.