Coupang Responds to Fair Trade Commission Sanctions: "We Will Seek Court Judgment Through Administrative Litigation"

"Regret over the judgment that the large manufacturing company holds a superior position"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] Coupang has decided to seek a court ruling through an administrative lawsuit regarding the Fair Trade Commission's decision to impose corrective orders (including notification orders) and a total fine of 3.297 billion KRW for violations of the Fair Trade Act and the Large-scale Distribution Business Act.

On the 19th, Coupang issued a statement saying, "We regret that the Fair Trade Commission judged that Coupang, which was merely a newly established distribution company in the past, holds a superior bargaining position over the industry-leading large corporations."

In the statement, Coupang claimed, "While some large manufacturers and major distributors have pursued excessive profits by leveraging their dominant market positions, Coupang is an innovative company that introduced an online direct purchasing method based on IT, pioneering sales channels for small business owners and offering fair prices to customers."

Regarding the case that led to the FTC's sanctions, Coupang stated, "The essence of this case is that large conglomerate manufacturers discriminated in supply prices to check new distribution channels like Coupang," adding, "In fact, LG Household & Health Care, the nation's top household goods company, has long supplied key products to Coupang at prices higher than those sold to other distributors by abusing its monopolistic supplier status, and the request to lower supply prices was the trigger of the incident."

According to the statement, at the time of the incident in 2017-2018, Coupang was the third-largest online market player following Gmarket and 11st, with an overall retail market share of about 2%. Meanwhile, LG Household & Health Care achieved record-high performance in 2017, securing the number one market share in household goods and beauty markets, and surpassed 1 trillion KRW in operating profit for the first time in 2018, maintaining its overwhelming top position to date.

In response, Coupang said, "Large manufacturers have repeatedly checked and conflicted to protect vested interests whenever new distribution markets emerged," adding, "When large discount stores launched in the mid-1990s, some large manufacturers stopped supplying products or pressured to maintain sales prices at certain levels, resulting in sanctions from the Fair Trade Commission."

Coupang also emphasized that it attempted innovation so that consumers could purchase products faster and cheaper in a distribution market dominated by conglomerates and large corporations. Coupang stated, "We have continuously pursued distribution innovation by lowering entry barriers for small and medium-sized enterprises and promoting mutual growth," adding, "As of the second quarter of this year, 80% of the companies doing business with Coupang are small business owners, and the sales of these small business owners increased by 87% compared to the previous year."

Regarding the sanctions, Coupang reiterated, "We regret that despite the price discrimination by some large conglomerate manufacturers being the essence of the case, Coupang was judged to have a superior position over large manufacturers," and added, "We will continue to do our best for the growth of small business owners and the benefit of consumers."

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