"I Wanted to Raise a Lot of Investment Funds... Focusing on Investment in Korea"

Kim Beom-seok, Chairman of Coupang Board, Secures 5 Trillion KRW After NYSE Listing
"Much to Do in Korea" Expresses Willingness to Expand Large-Scale Investment
Emphasizes Potential of Korean E-commerce
Promises 50,000 Additional Jobs Within 5 Years
"Heartbroken Over Worker Deaths... Will Raise Industry Standards"

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] Kim Beom-seok, chairman of Coupang's board of directors, who completed the listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), could not hide his excitement over the results that exceeded expectations. He expressed his ambition to dominate the distribution sector by making intensive investments in the Korean e-commerce market, riding the momentum of the listing.

Kim Beom-seok, Chairman of Coupang's Board of Directors, is holding a meeting with the New York correspondents.

On the 11th (local time), Chairman Kim explained the goals, process, and future plans of this listing during a meeting with correspondents after Coupang's trading ended on the NYSE.

The focus was on the approximately 5 trillion won in funds secured by Coupang. Chairman Kim repeatedly emphasized that these funds would be used to expand logistics facilities and IT infrastructure within Korea. He explained that there is ample room to expand business domestically rather than overseas. He also stated that the number of employees would increase by an additional 50,000 from the current 50,000.

Chairman Kim said, "Investors do not see the Korean market as small. The Korean commerce market is worth 530 trillion won. The boundaries between online and offline have also been broken down. Among the world's top 10 e-commerce markets, Coupang is the only company that has outperformed Amazon and Alibaba, which surprised investors."

He also predicted, "Our listing will be an opportunity to showcase Korea's potential and the capabilities of Korean unicorn companies." He added, "Samsung was inspired by Sony but won in competition. There is a big difference between Amazon and Coupang," citing examples such as dawn delivery and instant returns.

Chairman Kim defined the reason for listing on the New York Stock Exchange instead of the Korean stock market as securing the maximum amount of capital. He said, "Alibaba also listed in New York. By raising funds in the world's largest capital market, we have secured competitiveness and can continue aggressive investments." He also emphasized that the NYSE listing was not due to dual-class voting rights to secure stable governance.

Chairman Kim expressed his intention to focus on domestic investment for the time being. He said, "In the long term, we cannot avoid overseas expansion, but for now, we will focus on the Korean market. There is so much to do."

Regarding the acquisition of the delivery company 'Yogiyo,' he introduced the investment principle that "while we have not closed the door on mergers and acquisitions, we have high standards and value culture," adding that they will conduct thorough analysis but will not proceed without certainty.

Chairman Kim did not mention the timing of Coupang's turnaround to profitability this time either. He reiterated the stance that aggressive investment must continue. He described the accumulated deficit of 4 trillion won as an "investment."

Regarding labor issues such as the death of a dawn delivery courier that arose during the listing process, Chairman Kim said, "I feel deeply saddened. As the third-largest employer, we will strive to raise industry standards."

Chairman Kim promised efforts to revitalize local economies where logistics centers are established, mentioning that stock options worth 100 billion won were granted to delivery employees.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.