[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] Amid controversy over Coupang Inc. Chairman Kim Beom-seok’s decision not to attend a National Assembly hearing, the Democratic Party of Korea has proposed legislation that would allow authorities to bar such individuals from entering the country.

Democratic Party lawmaker Jeon Yong-gi on December 16 introduced amendments to the Act on Testimony, Appraisal, etc. before the National Assembly and the Immigration Control Act. Under the proposed revision to the testimony act, if a foreign witness fails to attend a plenary session or standing committee hearing without justifiable reason, the National Assembly may, by resolution, request the Minister of Justice to impose an entry ban. The justice minister would then be required to take prompt action.

Explaining the proposal, Rep. Jeon said, “There have been repeated cases in which de facto controlling shareholders of companies such as Coupang and MBK Partners—who generate enormous profits in the Korean market—deliberately evade legitimate requests to appear before the National Assembly by citing their foreign nationality or overseas residence.”

He added that while current law allows for compulsory attendance orders or criminal penalties against witnesses who fail to appear without valid reason, such measures are effectively unenforceable against foreign nationals. “When witnesses remain overseas, the effectiveness of punishment cannot be guaranteed, creating a legal blind spot that is being exploited,” Jeon said.

Jeon also argued that this situation undermines fairness between domestic executives who comply with National Assembly requests and foreign executives who do not, calling it an act that “weakens the National Assembly’s constitutionally mandated oversight authority.”

The proposed amendment to the Immigration Control Act would explicitly add “failure to appear as a National Assembly witness without justifiable reason” as grounds for an entry ban.

The National Assembly’s Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on alleged personal data breaches at Coupang at 10 a.m. on December 17. Six individuals were summoned as witnesses, including Chairman Kim Beom-seok, former CEO Park Dae-joon, executive Kang Han-seung, Coupang Chief Information Security Officer Brett Mattis, Vice President Min Byeong-gi, and Vice President Cho Yong-woo. However, Kim, Park, and Kang submitted written notices on December 14 stating they would not attend. The committee has decided to file complaints against them and pursue a parliamentary investigation.

 

 

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