‘NATIONAL SECURITY RISK’: China Buddying Up With Historical Ally South Korea, GOP Rep Warns
South Korea is favoring Chinese companies while deliberately attacking American-owned businesses, raising national security concerns, a GOP congressman warned the Daily Signal Wednesday.
South Korea utilized “burdensome obligations, aggressive enforcement practices, and even the threat of criminal penalties to punish U.S. companies and prevent them from successfully competing against their Korean rivals,” a July 1 House Judiciary Committee report alleges.
In a statement to the Daily Signal, a spokesman for the Embassy of the Republic of Korea disputed the report’s allegations. (See full response below.)
According to the report, the Korea Fair Trade Commission has issued a “whole-of-government assault” on American companies such as Amazon, Meta, Google, and Coupang, causing some of their market capitalization to fall more than 40% in South Korea.
“I believe that what we are seeing right now with South Korea’s behavior is a national security risk,” Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., told the Daily Signal.
The report noted that, according to some estimates, the discrimination against U.S. companies “could lead to over $500 billion in economic losses for the United States and cost the average American household $3,800 over the next 10 years.”
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China and the National Security Risk
South Korea is deliberately “promoting China and Chinese companies” over American companies, charged Issa.
According to the report, the Korea Fair Trade Commission is burdening American companies with digital laws and regulations but “exempts smaller firms and, in effect, Chinese rivals.”
“China has become the largest trading partner of South Korea, and that is not an accident. That is, in fact, the active work of this government,” Issa warned the Daily Signal.
Issa explained that China-friendly, pro-communist leadership has taken root in South Korea while acting “hostile to the United States, a country that literally protected them from the Russians and the Chinese for the last 70 years.”
Since 1953, South Korea and the United States have been allies. Issa noted that South Korea was supposed to play an important role in growing the size of the U.S. Navy to match China’s.
“We were planning on having South Korea produce parts of our ships … the hulls and much of the infrastructure would have been created in South Korea,” Issa said.
However, this strategy is now untenable, Issa said. “I don’t believe we can afford to transfer that part of our national defense to an ally that, quite frankly, is more aligned with China than it is with us,” he said.
Issa said that Congress needs to take tough measures in response.
“Export controls have to weigh the balance of and the reliability of South Korea as an ally. Additionally, we very much have to limit the transfer of technology for production of military items,” Issa told the Daily Signal.
South Korea’s Response
A spokesman for Embassy of the Republic of Korea told the Daily Signal the country is proud of its “ironclad alliance with the United States,” and disputed any characterization that it adopted a China-friendly, pro-communist stance.
“Given that Korea has successfully championed and advanced liberal democracy, while stably managing its relationship with China on the solid foundation of our ironclad alliance with the United States, describing Korea’s stance as ‘pro-China’ or, moreover, ‘pro-communist’ is entirely inconsistent with both our constitutional values and geopolitical realities,” the spokesman said in a statement.
South Korea is currently led by President Lee Jae Myung, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea who was elected in 2025. The embassy touted his relationship with the United States.
“Since taking office, the Lee Jae Myung administration has worked closely with the United States to further strengthen the Alliance as a comprehensive, future-oriented partnership,” the spokesman said. “Bilateral cooperation has expanded across security, economic resilience, advanced technologies, critical supply chains, and strategic industries.
“Korea continues to contribute significantly to America’s industrial revitalization through investment while strengthening our shared technological competitiveness. At the same time, Korea has assumed greater responsibility for our shared defense and has been recognized by senior U.S. officials as a ‘model ally.’”
In addition, the Korean embassy noted that “investigations involving Coupang are being conducted fairly, impartially, and in accordance with Korean laws and regulations.”
The statement added, “The government of the Republic of Korea remains fully committed to ensuring a fair and non-discriminatory business environment for U.S. companies, as reaffirmed in the ROK–U.S. Joint Fact Sheet of Nov. 13, 2025.”
This article was updated after publication to include a statement from the Embassy of the Republic of Korea.
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