Investment firms Greenoaks and Altimeter announced that they are taking legal action against South Korea to protect U.S. businesses from what they believe are discriminatory and unfair trade practices.
The matter centers on U.S technology company Coupang, which alleges that South Korea has taken action that is “designed to target, disable, and destroy an innovative American competitor to the apparent benefit of domestic and Chinese companies in the Korean market.” U.S. investors have since served a formal notice of intent to file arbitration claims against the ROK Government under the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement.
Investors have also urged the U.S. Trade Representative to investigate the South Korean government’s conduct.
The firms stated that after a 2025 data incident, South Korea mobilized “more than a dozen government bodies” against Coupang. Many of these agencies were unrelated to cybersecurity matters. “Among many other actions, authorities conducted repeated raids, blocked commercial agreements unrelated to the data breach, pressured the national pension to divest its Coupang holdings, and marshaled overwhelming resources, including hundreds of officials, to launch an administrative assault on the company, including a 150-member National Tax Service task force and an 86-member police task force focused solely on investigating the company,” the press release described.
The investors further allege there were false and defamatory claims, open threats, and criminal referrals.
“When a close ally penalizes a U.S. company for its success, it compromises a vital partnership and opens the door to competitors that don’t play by the rules,” said Founder and Managing Partner of Greenoaks Neil Mehta. “That is bad for U.S. investors, bad for Korean consumers and workers, and bad for the U.S.-Korea relationship. Trade agreements are only as strong as our willingness to stand up for them, and we are acting today to ensure that international competition is governed by rules, not the whims of politicians.”
