The Seoul High Court suspended the effectiveness of a Fair Trade Commission decision designating Coupang Inc. chairman Kim Beom-seok as the company's "identical person" [1].
This ruling temporarily prevents the government from treating Kim as the total owner of the e-commerce giant, a designation that typically carries significant regulatory obligations and oversight responsibilities under South Korean law.
Administrative Division 7 of the court said the suspension was necessary to prevent possible damage that could arise from the Fair Trade Commission's designation [1]. The court's decision followed a hearing that lasted two and a half hours [1].
Coupang has challenged the regulator's move, arguing that the government changed the designated identical person suddenly despite a lack of changes in special circumstances [2]. The "identical person" status is used by regulators to identify the individual who exercises the most influence over a corporate group.
In response to the court's decision, a Fair Trade Commission spokesperson said the agency will focus on responding to the main lawsuit [3].
The dispute centers on the level of control Kim Beom-seok exerts over the company's operations and whether that control meets the legal threshold for the "identical person" classification. By halting the designation, the court has provided temporary relief to Kim while the legal merits of the commission's decision are debated in the broader litigation [1].
“The court said the suspension was needed to prevent possible damage.”
The suspension of the 'identical person' designation prevents the Fair Trade Commission from applying strict corporate group regulations to Kim Beom-seok until a final judgment is reached. If the designation had remained in effect, the commission would have had greater authority to scrutinize internal transactions and ownership structures between Coupang and its affiliates, potentially limiting the chairman's operational flexibility.
