“I can say clearly that we do not discriminate against companies based on nationality,” Han told foreign business executives in her first appearance as prime minister at an American Chamber of Commerce in Korea event at The Shilla Seoul.
Han cited enforcement actions against some of Korea's biggest companies to argue that regulators do not distinguish between Korean and foreign businesses when applying the law.
She reached back to her years at Naver, where she served as chief executive.
“When I was at Naver, eBay Korea, which was an American company, filed a complaint against Naver with the Fair Trade Commission, and we ended up facing a hefty fine,” Han said.
The case dates to 2018, when eBay Korea, then owned by U.S.-based eBay, complained to the Korea Fair Trade Commission that Naver's shopping search system favored products sold through its own platform or linked to Naver Pay.
The antitrust watchdog imposed penalties totaling about 26.7 billion won on Naver in 2020 over its shopping and video search algorithms. The case remains legally unsettled, however, after the Supreme Court last October overturned a lower-court ruling that had upheld the shopping-related sanction and sent it back for reconsideration.
Han also pointed to SK Telecom, South Korea's largest mobile carrier.
The Personal Information Protection Commission last year imposed a 134.79 billion won penalty on SK Telecom after concluding that inadequate security measures contributed to a massive leak of subscriber information.
SK Telecom separately offered a 50 percent discount on one month's mobile bill to its customers as part of a compensation package. Han stressed that the measure was taken voluntarily by the company rather than ordered by the government.
Han's lengthy defense underscored how sensitive the question of regulatory discrimination has become as Coupang emerges as a new source of friction between Seoul and Washington.
Korea's privacy regulator in June imposed a record 625 billion won ($464 million) fine on Coupang over a massive data breach and unauthorized collection of customer information.
The following month, a U.S. House Judiciary Committee report accused South Korean authorities of discriminating against Coupang and other foreign companies. Seoul rejected the allegations, saying its regulatory actions were based on Korean law rather than the nationality of the company.
During an onstage conversation, AMCHAM Chairman and CEO James Kim said he frequently encounters concerns in Washington that U.S. companies are being treated unfairly in Korea.
Han acknowledged, however, that Seoul needs to do a better job explaining its policies when foreign companies perceive Korean regulations as unfair.
She also said regulations must keep pace with artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies without unnecessarily hindering innovation.
AI is becoming infrastructure for virtually every industry, Han said, adding that Korea's manufacturing and digital strengths could complement U.S. leadership in AI, semiconductors and advanced technology.
The discussion also turned to South Korea's $350 billion investment commitment in the United States.
A special law governing the program took effect June 18, when Seoul launched the state-backed Korea-U.S. Strategic Investment Corp. Of the total commitment, $200 billion is earmarked for strategic investment and $150 billion for shipbuilding cooperation.
Han said negotiations were progressing but emphasized that investment projects must deliver clear benefits to both countries.
"Since it is an investment, profitability has to be properly secured," she said.
Kim also raised Korea's longstanding struggle to attract the Asia-Pacific headquarters of multinational companies.
AMCHAM has estimated that Singapore hosts more than 5,000 multinational regional headquarters and Hong Kong about 1,400, compared with fewer than 100 in Korea.
Han said Korea needs to give foreign investors greater opportunities to participate in major projects, offer more competitive incentives and make the country easier for foreign executives and their families to live in.
Foreign direct investment pledges in Korea reached $14.3 billion in the first half of 2026, up 9.1 percent from a year earlier, while actual inflows surged 42.6 percent to $10.7 billion.
Han closed by saying the government's role should increasingly be to help businesses invest, innovate and take risks rather than stand in their way.
"We will stand with companies so they can invest more boldly, innovate more freely and achieve even greater success in Korea," she said.
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