The Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) has raised concerns about Coupang's hiring of former public officials and filed for a public-interest audit, and Coupang pushed back, saying the share of such hires is low relative to its overall hiring.

Coupang said in a statement on Tuesday that over the past 4 years it ranked only seventh in the number of former public officials it hired. It said that was less than half the level of major South Korean conglomerates. Coupang said it regretted what it called a discriminatory announcement and audit request that highlighted only the hiring of current and former officials by a single company, and raised questions about the probe's fairness and reliability.

Earlier on Tuesday, CCEJ held a news conference at its auditorium in Seoul's Jongno district titled "Exposing Coupang's all-out capture of former officials and filing a public-interest audit request to the Public Officials Ethics Committee and the Ministry of Personnel Management." It claimed Coupang recruited large numbers of public officials from the legislative, administrative and judicial branches to form a revolving-door cartel.

According to CCEJ, of 405 former National Assembly officials subject to employment screening over the past 6 years, 394, or 97.28 percent, were judged "eligible for employment." The remaining 11 who were initially notified of restrictions were later all approved after undergoing employment-approval review. It said there was not a single case of disapproval across a total of 438 reviews, combining 405 eligibility checks and 33 employment-approval reviews.

It said the situation was similar for employment screening of former government officials. Over the same period, 4,727 of 5,226 people, or 90.45 percent, were judged eligible for employment or approved for employment.

CCEJ criticised the current screening system, saying it had become a place that issues pardons legalising re-employment for retirees rather than a tool to filter conflicts of interest.

CCEJ in particular claimed Coupang exploited institutional loopholes to focus hiring on National Assembly aides and civil servants at government ministries. It said that over the past 6 years, 16 National Assembly aides moved to Coupang or its affiliates, and it analysed that 31 former government officials from investigative and regulatory bodies such as the police, prosecutors, the Fair Trade Commission and the Ministry of Employment and Labor also joined Coupang.

It also said at least 72 former officials were positioned at Coupang, including 22 in judicial and investigative fields and 25 in the legislative field. It also said hires of related personnel were made in step with times when corporate risks occurred, such as worker death incidents or personal data leaks.

CCEJ said this structure undermined the purpose of the Public Service Ethics Act. It said it filed for a public-interest audit citing the Public Officials Ethics Committee and the Ministry of Personnel Management for excessive approvals, neglect of post-check authority and passive administration on system improvement.

Coupang countered that CCEJ's announcement highlighted only a specific company without reflecting the share compared with overall hiring volumes.

In its statement, Coupang said a survey by a corporate analysis research institute showed that over the past 4 years Coupang ranked only seventh in the number of former public officials it hired, and that this was less than half the level of major South Korean conglomerates.

It added that its employment scale last year was the second-largest in South Korea and that, compared with its overall hiring, the share of former-official hires was very low versus major companies.

Coupang also said the probe raised doubts about fairness and reliability by inflating employees' ranks and linking even moves into public office after leaving Coupang to a revolving-door cartel. It added it regretted what it called a discriminatory announcement and audit request that highlighted only the hiring of current and former officials by a single company.