More than 50 House members sent a letter to South Korea's U.S. ambassador on Tuesday accusing the country's new government of running a regulatory campaign against American companies while protecting Korean domestic competitors and showing preference toward Chinese-led businesses.
The letter, led by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., was addressed to Ambassador Kyung-wha Kang and named companies including Meta and Coupang, a South Korean e-commerce platform founded by a Korean-American that Issa described as effectively that country's version of Amazon. "Many American tech companies have faced a range of regulatory actions that seek to punish them while shielding Korean domestic competition," the letter states.
The members cited research from think tank Competere projecting that South Korean regulatory actions will cost the U.S. and Korean economies a combined $1 trillion over the next decade, with American households losing nearly $4,000 each. Issa told Fox News Digital that South Korea has adopted European-style digital regulations he described as designed to "localize rather than accept the great companies that have spread very well around the world because they've earned it."
The political backdrop matters. South Korea held a presidential election in 2025 following the impeachment of conservative President Yoon Suk-yeol, who had been removed after attempting to declare martial law in December 2024. His successor, Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party, leads a government that now holds a full legislative majority for the first time in four years. Issa characterized that government as "closely aligned with China."
The letter calls on the South Korean government to stop what the signatories call the "persecution" of Coupang and other American companies. It does not outline specific legislative or diplomatic actions the members plan to take if Seoul does not respond.
