美 상원의원 “배은망덕한 한국”…무역법 301조 조사 요청

A sitting U.S. senator has publicly labeled South Korea “ungrateful” and called for a formal Section 301 trade investigation, over Seoul’s regulatory campaign against American companies. Senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio sent a letter to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative demanding an investigation, including potential Section 301 tariffs, into what he described as South Korea’s aggressive regulatory actions against American businesses such as Coupang.

At the center of the dispute is Coupang, a U.S. e-commerce company. After a data breach affecting millions of users, Moreno argues, Korean regulators used the incident as a pretext to weaponize government power against the very American companies helping drive Korea’s digital economy. Major U.S. investors in Coupang had already filed a Section 301 petition with the USTR over the matter, but withdrew it after discussions with U.S. trade officials suggested Washington might pursue a broader investigation into Korea’s trade practices toward American firms — a sign the case had moved from a private grievance to the level of formal U.S. government policy concern. Moreno’s letter went further, invoking the decades of American security and economic support that helped rebuild South Korea after war, and warning that Seoul cannot keep exploiting American goodwill while turning regulators against American innovators.

What this reveals is that a domestic regulatory action, whatever its stated justification, is being read in Washington as a symbol of Korea’s broader posture toward the alliance. Precisely because this involves an American company operating in Korea, not a purely domestic matter, this is a case where diplomatic and economic channels need to work together from the outset, rather than treating it as an issue for the relevant ministry alone. Given that Section 301 authority allows the U.S. government to move straight to tariffs and countermeasures once an investigation concludes, this could escalate well beyond a bilateral irritant into a matter affecting the overall Korea-U.S. trade relationship.

Moreno’s letter specifically asked the USTR to launch a formal investigation under available legal authorities, pursue consultations under existing trade agreements, and prepare proportionate countermeasures to restore fair treatment for American companies. If the Lee Jae-myung government keeps treating a regulatory posture already read on Capitol Hill as a symbol of anti-American sentiment as merely an internal Korean matter, the fallout will not stop with Coupang, and it will not stop with trade either. Korea needs to grasp, without delay, that the alliance’s foundation of trust is not an inexhaustible resource.