The recent data breach affecting Coupang members in South Korea has escalated into an international dispute, with additional U.S. Coupang investors submitting notices of intent for international investment dispute arbitration (ISDS).
On Thursday morning, the Ministry of Justice announced that Coupang shareholders, including Foxhaven and Abrams Capital, had filed ISDS notices of intent with the South Korean government the previous day. These notices were based on the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
A notice of intent is a formal document sent to the opposing country, signaling the claimant’s intention to initiate arbitration. While it doesn’t constitute an official arbitration request, it allows the claimant to formally begin arbitration proceedings 90 days after submission.
The Ministry of Justice reported that these investors essentially duplicated the content from notices submitted by other Coupang shareholders, including Greenox and Altimeter, on November 22.
In their notices, the shareholders alleged that following the December 1, 2025 data breach, South Korea’s National Assembly and executive branch had unfairly targeted Coupang with various administrative actions and threatening statements.
They argued that these actions violated several provisions of the Korea-U.S. FTA, including fair and equitable treatment (Article 11.5(1)), national treatment and most-favored-nation treatment (Articles 11.3 and 11.4), comprehensive protection (Article 11.5(2)), and prohibition of expropriation (Article 11.6).
The shareholders also claimed tens of billions of dollars in damages resulting from these actions.
The Ministry of Justice assured that it would respond to these new notices with the same systematic and professional approach used for the November 22 notice.
Earlier, Greenox and Altimeter had petitioned the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) on November 22 to investigate South Korea’s actions and impose appropriate trade remedies, potentially including tariffs and other sanctions.
These investors contended that the South Korean government had attempted to undermine Coupang’s operations through a coordinated effort involving labor, financial, and customs investigations, which they claimed were largely unrelated to the data breach incident.
