South Korea’s antitrust regulator has fined e-commerce giant Coupang 2.19 billion won, or about 1.54 million dollars, for unfair business practices that pressured suppliers and violated retail trade laws.
The Fair Trade Commission said on Thursday that Coupang forced suppliers to lower their prices and pay for advertising costs in order to help the company meet its target profit margins. The regulator found that this behavior broke the Act on Fair Transactions in Large Retail Businesses.
According to the commission, Coupang also delayed payments to suppliers and failed to pay interest on those late payments. As a result, the watchdog issued corrective orders along with the fine to address the violations.
The FTC described Coupang as the dominant player in South Korea’s online shopping market and said the company made suppliers sacrifice their own margins to protect its profits. The regulator added that the latest action is aimed at reforming Coupang’s margin management practices and core business model to prevent similar issues in the future and improve fairness in the online retail sector.
The fine comes as Coupang faces growing scrutiny over a recent data breach. Authorities initially said the breach affected 33.6 million users, but Coupang claimed that only around 3,000 accounts were actually leaked.
On Wednesday, the company said that about 200,000 Taiwanese accounts were accessed in the breach, which it said affected roughly 33 million accounts overall. Coupang had asked cybersecurity firms Mandiant and Palo Alto Networks to conduct a full forensic investigation after the incident in November 2025.
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In a statement, the company said the breach was a crime committed by a former employee against both Coupang and its customers. It added that it has been urging authorities to prosecute the individual to the fullest extent of the law.
