politics
Opinion Piece Warns South Korea’s Coupang Probes Could Affect U.S. Alliance
Fred Fleitz said commercial tensions could affect security cooperation on North Korea and China. The warning came one day after a House Judiciary Committee report accused South Korea of targeting U.S. firms including Coupang.
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-South Korea alliance. Fleitz, who served as chief of staff of the National Security Council during President Donald Trump's first term, made the comments in an opinion piece published on Newsmax. The warning followed the release Wednesday of an interim staff report by the House Judiciary Committee.
The report accused South Korea of discriminatory attacks on Coupang and other U.S. firms, stating that the company has been a consistent target of investigations into a data leak that affected more than 33 million users.
He described the partnership as one forged over seven decades and strengthened by personal rapport between Presidents Trump and Lee Jae Myung. Fleitz said the alliance deters North Korea's nuclear brinkmanship, counters Chinese assertiveness, and supports trilateral cooperation with Japan.
It also enables defense industrial ties, nuclear-powered submarine cooperation, and economic interdependence, he added.
Fleitz expressed concern that commercial frictions could spill into security consultations and investor confidence. He noted that South Korea's pragmatic approach on defense spending and nuclear cooperation has produced major progress and urged the same approach on commercial matters.
It is time to treat it as such," Fleitz said.
