▲ This composite image shows Coupang's headquarters and company founder Kim Bom. (Yonhap)

court-Coupang founder

Court grants injunction suspending FTC's designation of Coupang founder as 'identical person'

SEOUL, July 14 (Yonhap) -- The Seoul High Court partially granted an injunction Tuesday to suspend the antitrust watchdog's designation of the founder of e-commerce giant Coupang Inc. as the company's de facto controlling entity.

Coupang Corp., the South Korean unit of the U.S.-listed company, earlier filed a lawsuit and an injunction request with the court to overturn the Fair Trade Commission's (FTC) designation of Kim Bom as the "identical person" of the group.

"Identical person" is a legal term referring to the individual who effectively controls a conglomerate.

Individuals designated as the identical person are subject to tighter oversight by authorities, including disclosure requirements on intra-family transactions and rules governing holding company structures.

"The effect of the FTC's May 1 designation (of Kim) as the identical person is suspended until 30 days after the judgment on the main lawsuit," the court said.

"There is an urgent need to prevent irrecoverable losses that will be inflicted (on Coupang), and there is no material to conclude that a suspension will go against the public welfare," it added.

Coupang had previously qualified for an exception allowing the company itself, rather than an individual, to be designated as the identical person.

The FTC said Coupang no longer meets key conditions for the exception, as Kim Bom's younger brother, Yoo Kim, is effectively involved in management as a vice president of Coupang.

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