Coupang spent $1.09M on US lobbying in Q1 after data breach scandal

South Korean e-commerce company Coupang spent $1.09 million lobbying the White House, Congress and multiple federal agencies in the first quarter of 2026, Senate disclosure filings show, months after a massive data breach in South Korea drew scrutiny of the company's operations.

The disclosures, reported by The Korea Times, come as the South Korean government has urged both Seoul and Washington to handle the Coupang matter carefully to avoid straining their bilateral alliance amid shared security concerns over North Korea.

Coupang filed lobbying disclosure reports with the Senate showing it targeted a broad range of federal entities in its first-quarter push, including the Executive Office of the President, the Vice President's office, the Senate, the House of Representatives, the Commerce Department and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, according to The Korea Times.

Topics for the outreach included expanding use of Coupang's digital, retail and logistics services by American small- and medium-sized businesses, U.S. job creation, economic growth, and increased trade and investment flows linking North America, Asia and Europe, the Korea Times reported.

The lobbying push follows a data leak scandal that emerged in South Korea in November 2025. Coupang, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, has spent more than $1 million on U.S. lobbying since that incident.

South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok met with Vice President JD Vance in January 2026, at which point Vance urged both governments to handle the Coupang matter in a way that would prevent diplomatic misunderstandings, the Korea Times reported. The South Korean government has since made a specific request that the case be managed carefully at the diplomatic level.

South Korea's government has specifically requested diplomatic-level care in handling the case, with the two countries' alliance facing broader shared pressures including North Korea's nuclear program.