Item 1 of 2 Bom Kim Founder and CEO, Coupang speaks during the Milken Institute’s 22nd annual Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., April 30, 2019. REUTERS\/Mike Blake\/File Photo<\/p>\n
[1\/2]Bom Kim Founder and CEO, Coupang speaks during the Milken Institute’s 22nd annual Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., April 30, 2019. REUTERS\/Mike Blake\/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab<\/a>SEOUL, July 14 (Reuters) – A South Korean court on Tuesday suspended a Fair Trade Commission (FTC) \u200bdecision to designate Kim Bom, the founder of \u200cU.S.-listed e-commerce firm Coupang (CPNG.N), opens new tab<\/a>, as the group’s controlling entity.<\/p>\n The Seoul High Court granted an injunction sought by Coupang and Kim, suspending the designation \u200bpending a ruling in the main lawsuit, according \u200bto a court filing.<\/p>\n Sign up here.<\/a><\/p>\n The court said it granted the \u2060request due to “an urgent need to prevent irreparable harm” \u200bto the applicants from the change in designation.<\/p>\n It found no \u200bevidence that suspending the FTC measure would run counter to the public interest.<\/p>\n The suspension will remain in effect until 30 days after the \u200bcourt delivers its ruling in the main lawsuit, when the \u200blegality of the FTC’s designation will be decided upon, it said.<\/p>\n In April, \u200cthe \u2060FTC designated<\/a> Kim, a Korean-American, as the group’s controlling person, replacing Coupang as the group’s “same person” under South Korean fair trade law and subjecting the company to additional disclosure and \u200bgovernance requirements.<\/p>\n The designation, \u200bwhich Coupang \u2060challenged in court, followed an FTC probe into the involvement of Kim’s family members in \u200bthe group’s operations and came amid heightened regulatory \u200bscrutiny \u2060of the company after a major customer data breach.<\/p>\n South Korea’s regulatory actions involving Coupang, including a separate record fine imposed by \u2060the \u200bPersonal Information Protection Commission over the \u200bdata breach, have caused friction<\/a> with the U.S. over the treatment of the company.<\/p>\n Reporting \u200bby Kyu-seok Shim; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Thomas Derpinghaus<\/p>\n Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab<\/a><\/p>\n