U.S. House again pressures South Korea over Coupang, saying it has not fulfilled investment promises

[Financial News] The United States Congress, which has repeatedly criticized the Government of the Republic of Korea over the Coupang issue this year, has again claimed that South Korea discriminates against U.S. companies such as Coupang. It also voiced frustration that South Korea is not making the promised investments in the United States.
Brian Mast, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and a hard-line figure within the GOP, said in a Fox News interview on the 23rd local time that "they are hurting U.S. companies like Coupang." He also said, "They are not following through on their promise to provide more semiconductors and ships and to support us in the United States on that front."
Since late last year, U.S. political circles have repeatedly argued that the Government of the Republic of Korea has been excessively targeting Coupang over a data breach. In January, U.S. Vice President JD Vance mentioned the Coupang issue directly, and in February a Coupang representative appeared before the House Judiciary Committee to explain the conflict with the Government of the Republic of Korea. Last month, the committee also cited Coupang's claims extensively in a 35-page report, arguing that the Government of the Republic of Korea had discriminated against U.S. companies and violated a trade agreement.
However, because Mast belongs to the MAGA supporters within the GOP, it is possible that Trump's influence was behind the remarks. On the 16th, Trump praised North Korea and ordered a reduction in the ROK-US Combined Military Exercise. Experts at home and abroad have since speculated that Trump was expressing dissatisfaction with South Korea's stance on the Iran War and with delays in South Korea's promised investments in the United States.
In the interview on the 23rd, Mast referred to the order to scale back the ROK-US Combined Military Exercise and said that Trump saw it this way: "If you are trying to improve relations, and if we do not want an enemy that is on a path toward war, what is the point of holding these exercises?"
 
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