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Bom Kim, the founder of Coupang and CEO of Coupang Inc., poses in front of the New York Stock Exchange on March 11, 2021, when the company made its initial public offering. (AP/Yonhap)

South Korea’s anti-trust regulator has designated Coupang founder Bom Kim as the de facto controlling entity of the e-commerce giant, a major revision that comes five years after the company was first categorized as a conglomerate. 

Its basis for replacing Coupang’s Korean corporate entity as the de facto controller of the conglomerate was the company’s failure to meet the exemption criteria for designation as a corporation after Bom Kim’s brother, Kim Yoo-suk, was found to be taking part in management activities in South Korea.

In an announcement Wednesday of the results from its large business group designation findings for 2026, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) stated it was changing Coupang’s “same person” — a legal term for the individual who holds de facto control of a conglomerate — to Bom Kim, known also as Kim Bom-suk.

Bom Kim’s designation as the same person for Coupang’s Korean arm means that he will be directly subject to terms regarding the provision of designated materials for affiliates, disclosure obligations, and regulations on undue profit-taking practices. He also potentially faces warnings or legal action if he fails to comply with his legally defined duties.

The KFTC originally designated Coupang as a large business group, or conglomerate, in 2021. At the time, it named Coupang’s corporate entity as its same person rather than Bom Kim, a US national, citing factors including a lack of regulations on the possibility of designating a foreign national as a same person.

After a debate, the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act’s enforcement decree was amended in 2024 to specify the conditions for designating a same person as a corporation. The terms required the elimination of risks involving undue profit-taking by “related parties.” These included that the scope of the business group must be the same regardless of whether the same person was an actual person or a corporation; that there could not be any capital contributions, loans or debt guarantees to Korean officials by the individual controlling the group or their relatives; and that no relatives could participate in the management of domestic affiliates as executives or otherwise.

In 2024 and 2025, the KFTC recognized Coupang as having met all the conditions for designation of the corporation as the same person.

But based on an on-site inspection of Coupang conducted ahead of this year’s designation, the commission concluded that it did not meet the condition of non-participation in domestic affiliate management by a relative of an individual controlling the business group.

“Kim Yoo-suk’s status as vice president corresponds to more or less the highest rank within Coupang, meaning that it is similar to that of CEO of a major affiliate,” it explained.

Kim Yoo-suk’s annual pay was found to correspond to the average for registered executives of the same rank, and he was deemed to receive equivalent treatment in terms of the assignment of a secretary, among other aspects. A KFTC investigation found that he had organized hundreds of regular and ad hoc meetings relating to distribution and delivery policy.

The commission also found that he had “invited the CEO of Coupang Logistics Services (CLS) and others for weekly performance inspections and discussions of improvement plans, including increased volumes and changes to delivery policy.” It further confirmed that he had exerted de facto influence on the direction of the actual execution of duties for major efforts.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency exchange Upbit’s operator, Dunamu, retained its corporation as its same person in place of an individual after the KFTC’s on-site inspection confirmed that it met the exception conditions this year.

On Wednesday, the KFTC designated 102 business groups (3,538 affiliated companies) with total assets of at least 5 trillion won as being subject to reporting. The number was up by 10 groups and 237 companies from last year.

Kolmar Korea and Orion earned new designations amid rapid growth for the K-beauty and K-food industries, while Toss was added to the list amid strong stock market performance since last year.

Forty-seven business groups (2,088 affiliated companies) with total assets of at least 12 trillion won (0.5% of the most recently finalized nominal gross domestic product) were designated as subject to restrictions on mutual investment. The number of groups increased by one from last year, while the number of affiliated companies fell by five.

By Kim Yoon-ju, staff reporter

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