On January 23, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance raised the Coupang issue as a key topic during his meeting with South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok in Washington, D.C. According to The Wall Street Journal, Vance's message was a warning against taking measures that disadvantage American technology companies, including Coupang.
A month later, on February 24, the U.S. House Judiciary Committee held an official session on Coupang. The committee heard approximately seven hours of testimony from Harold Rogers, interim head of Coupang's Korean subsidiary, regarding alleged discriminatory treatment by the South Korean government. Both the U.S. executive branch and Congress have given significant attention to the Coupang matter this year.
South Korean industry observers expressed surprise at how Coupang has captured the attention of the U.S. Vice President and Congress. Washington is known for intense lobbying competition and difficult access to high-ranking officials, making it hard to attribute this coordinated movement to conventional lobbying alone.
Coupang is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, yet more than 90 percent of its revenue comes from South Korea. The remaining 10 percent derives from Taiwan operations and online luxury platform Farfetch, not the Coupang brand itself. The company remains virtually unknown among American consumers.
Behind Coupang's emergence as a priority issue for top U.S. officials lies Chairman Bom Kim's personal network, cultivated over 16 years with Wall Street and academic heavyweights. Industry observers suggest Kim's deep understanding of American elite communication norms—and his membership in that circle—has greater influence than any corporate lobbying effort by Coupang Inc.
According to industry sources on May 3, Kim's key U.S. connections trace back to the late Clayton Christensen, the Harvard Business School professor who pioneered "disruptive innovation" theory. Kim graduated from Harvard College with a degree in political science and later attended Harvard Business School before dropping out. He was reportedly inspired by Christensen's lectures, and Christensen invested in Coupang's early stages after connecting with Kim's vision. In 2010, when Kim founded Coupang, Christensen's venture capital firm Rose Park Advisors became an investor.
Christensen's backing opened doors to other prominent figures. Bill Ackman, chairman of Pershing Square Capital and known as "Little Warren Buffett," invested personally in Coupang around the same time. He held the stock for more than a decade until donating shares worth over 1 trillion won to charity after Coupang's IPO.
Ackman also introduced Kim to David Frankel, founder of Founders Collective. Kim, Ackman, and Frankel are all Harvard alumni. When Coupang listed on Nasdaq in 2021, Frankel posted on X (formerly Twitter) to Ackman: "Bill, please keep introducing me to good grad students." This exchange suggests Kim's alumni network was active from Coupang's earliest days. Business Insider noted that "Harvard Business School appears to be the common denominator among various figures connected to Coupang."
The Trump administration's return also worked in Coupang's favor. Kevin Warsh, a current Coupang board member and former Federal Reserve governor, was recently nominated as the next Fed Chair. Warsh is also a Harvard alumnus. Kim reportedly recruited Warsh as an outside director in October 2019 after persistent outreach.
Warsh worked for a decade with billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller, whom some describe as a behind-the-scenes economic power broker in the U.S. administration. In a CNBC appearance, Warsh stated that Druckenmiller has long supported Coupang. Druckenmiller has held Coupang shares since before its IPO. In 2023, foreign media captured Kim, Druckenmiller, and Warsh walking and talking together at the Sun Valley Conference, known as a gathering of global business elites.
In Washington and on Wall Street, prioritizing contacts who come recommended by trusted acquaintances is standard practice. While critics call it an exclusionary "old boy network," high-level figures routinely rely on verified relationships and personal referrals. Kim appears to have understood this American elite culture well before founding Coupang. His second startup after graduating from Harvard, Vintage Media Company, published a magazine targeting graduates of prestigious universities.
Industry observers say the direction of Coupang's domestic business may depend on how Kim deploys these connections. One industry insider said: "If the U.S. uses Coupang as an example of South Korea discriminating against American companies to justify tariffs, public sentiment could worsen significantly. South Korea is an export-driven economy, and Coupang could be perceived as shaking the national economy."
Coupang experienced the impact of deteriorating consumer sentiment in the fourth quarter of last year, when the "quit Coupang" movement emerged and quarterly revenue declined from the previous period.
Coupang has indicated it intends to actively serve as a bridge between the U.S. and South Korea using its network. On February 24, when the House Judiciary Committee summoned Rogers, Coupang Inc. stated: "We hope Coupang can serve as a bridge between the United States and South Korea. We hope this can simultaneously benefit both countries by improving economic relations, strengthening the security alliance, and promoting trade and investment."
The South Korean government's response also draws attention. Some observers note that the government's decision on February 27 to allow Google access to high-precision domestic maps helped dispel the narrative of discrimination against U.S. companies. This may have given the government more flexibility in handling the Coupang situation. One industry insider said: "By accommodating Google and Apple's requests, the government proved its position that it does not discriminate against U.S. tech companies. This allows the government to address the matter as an individual company issue rather than a U.S. corporate issue."