November 29, 2024

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Coupang headquarters in Seoul (Coupang)

South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang said Tuesday it will take legal action against People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, a local NGO, for spreading false information on the company’s audit report.

The NGO said in a statement that Coupang is illegally aiding its subsidiary called CPLB by receiving only 2.55 percent commission while demanding around 31.2 percent commission to other sellers. The 31.2 percent includes advertising fee and standard brokerage fee, it claimed.

Coupang refuted the allegations saying that PSPD has misinterpreted the 2.55 percent as commission, when it is clearly stipulated as “outsourcing service fee” in the audit report.

“The NGO is either knowingly or unintentionally distorting facts and this is not the first time. The NGO has argued Coupang is receiving 31.2 percent commissions from all sellers. But it is not true.” a Coupang official said.

The company also argued CPLB as well as other direct sellers sells products to Coupang and does not pay the brokerage fee.

Coupang’s commission is lower than the average amount and the 31.2 percent fee only applies to 0.9 percent of the total cases, the company said.

By Byun Hye-jin (hyejin2@heraldcorp.com)