[2025 Audit] Coupang CEO Park Daejun: "Efforts to Shorten Settlement Period... Strict Action Against Forcing Partner Vendors to Advertise"

Coupang CEO Park Daejun Attends Industry and Science Committee Audits
Coupang Eats CEO Kim Myungkyu Criticized at Political Affairs Committee for "Lack of Win-Win Approach"

Park Daejun, CEO of Coupang, stated on the 14th that "we are developing various programs to shorten the payment cycle" regarding the settlement period for payments to partner vendors.

On the afternoon of the same day, during the National Assembly’s Industry, Trade, Energy, SMEs and Startups Committee audit, Park responded to People Power Party lawmaker Park Sangwoong’s criticism that "Coupang is delaying the settlement of payments to partner vendors, forcing them to spend a considerable amount of time on this process."

On this day, Representative Park focused his questions on Coupang's longer settlement cycle compared to competing e-commerce platforms. The current Large-scale Distribution Business Act stipulates that the settlement period for large-scale distributors must not exceed 60 days. However, there are still no such regulations for e-commerce platforms. As a result, Coupang voluntarily applies the 60-day settlement period for partner vendors, but Representative Park argued that competitors such as Naver have even shorter settlement cycles.

Park Daejun, CEO, is attending the National Assembly's Industry, Trade and Energy Committee audit held on the afternoon of the 14th and responding to questions from Representative Park. Captured from the National Assembly Internet Deliberation Broadcasting System

Representative Park pointed out, "While Naver Shopping, a competitor, settles payments within a maximum of 9 days after purchase confirmation, and Public Home Shopping settles every 10 days, Coupang's settlement period is up to 63 days, and even for direct purchases, it can be up to 60 days." He added, "There are claims that small business owners and Coupang partner vendors are trapped in the closed-off thicket that is Coupang." He continued, "Isn’t Coupang buying goods from partner vendors (direct purchase) and selling them? If the products are delivered in a day through Rocket Delivery but the payment takes two months, it must be extremely difficult for small businesses."

Representative Park also criticized, "Coupang is forcing partner vendors to advertise." He claimed that Coupang is coercing vendors by saying, "If you do not advertise, you may be disadvantaged."

In response, CEO Park explained, "We strictly prohibit forcing advertising fees as a matter of internal policy," and added, "If any employees engage in such practices, we will take strict action."

On the same day, CEO Park, together with Ju Sungwon, Coupang’s Head of Commerce Strategy, also attended the National Assembly’s Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee audit. Assemblywoman Lee Haemin of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party urged CEO Park and Head Ju, saying, "(Regarding the ranking of franchise exposure) if only large corporations with high advertising budgets appear in search results without considering the ecosystem, small businesses will have no place. (With leadership and determination) you must develop a win-win algorithm for small businesses."

On the same day, Kim Myungkyu, CEO of Coupang Eats Service, Coupang’s food delivery subsidiary, also attended the National Assembly’s Political Affairs Committee audit, where he was criticized for forcing self-employed business owners to accept discount rates and shifting the burden onto them. Assemblyman Lee Kangil of the Democratic Party of Korea pointed out, "The single-serving free delivery service advertises discounts on the surface, but in practice, it demands higher discount rates from ordinary self-employed business owners than from franchisees." In response, CEO Kim replied, "We will check this thoroughly and ensure it does not happen again."

Meanwhile, CEO Park is also scheduled to attend the National Assembly’s Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee audit on the 15th.