Coupang founder may face entry ban for refusing to attend Assembly hearings

A ruling party lawmaker has proposed legislation that would ban foreign nationals from entering the country if they fail to appear before National Assembly hearings without justifiable reasons, according to officials Wednesday. Prompting the tightened parliamentary oversight power is growing political backlash over repeated refusals by Coupang Inc. Chairman Bom Kim, who is a U.S. citizen, to attend committee hearings related to a massive personal data breach at the e-commerce giant. Lawmakers say the proposal seeks to close a legal loophole that executives based outside Korea have exploited to evade accountability despite running major businesses here. Rep. Jeon Yong-gi of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) introduced a bill to revise two laws, each governing parliamentary witness testimonies and immigration control, late Tuesday. The revisions would allow the National Assembly to request that the Ministry of Justice impose an entry ban on non-Korean witnesses who fail to appear before the committee hearings without valid grounds. The justice minister would be required to enforceWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times