Despite heavy presence in MAGA movement and American political establishment from MAGA influencers and J.D. Vance Coupang rallying around it, Coupang is not well-known to Americans.
2. How is this related to the sub
(1) lobbying: Although Coupang is a company not well-known to American public, it gained massive influence on US politics by spending millions of dollars on US politics. It is now so powerful and well-connected that its director, Kevin Warsh, is appointed as Fed Chair and can influence geopolitical decision of the US.
3. My opinion
Korean journalists are confused about why the US thinks Coupang is so crucial to their security. It’s just online e-commerce mall mainly operating in Asia. But Americans rally around it.
So, they dug into financial records and found out that Coupang has spent millions in paying off US Republican politicians like J.D. Vance and MAGA influencers. This led to Korean media outlets coming to a somewhat premature conclusion of corruption in the heart of Washington D.C.
This conclusion has something to do with Korean term “lobbying” is synonymous with corrupt dealings between businesses and politicians, not legal practice of political fundraising. In theory, Korean politics are operated with only with public subsidies and individual donations with yearly cap of 20 million KRW per person ( in practice, there are a lot of dark money going around. The endless stream of news of politicians being stripped of their office for election law or Political Funding Act violation is the evidence of that. ) So, US lobbying model seems like corruption for Korean journalists.
1 Comment
1. Summary
Despite heavy presence in MAGA movement and American political establishment from MAGA influencers and J.D. Vance Coupang rallying around it, Coupang is not well-known to Americans.
2. How is this related to the sub
(1) lobbying: Although Coupang is a company not well-known to American public, it gained massive influence on US politics by spending millions of dollars on US politics. It is now so powerful and well-connected that its director, Kevin Warsh, is appointed as Fed Chair and can influence geopolitical decision of the US.
3. My opinion
Korean journalists are confused about why the US thinks Coupang is so crucial to their security. It’s just online e-commerce mall mainly operating in Asia. But Americans rally around it.
So, they dug into financial records and found out that Coupang has spent millions in paying off US Republican politicians like J.D. Vance and MAGA influencers. This led to Korean media outlets coming to a somewhat premature conclusion of corruption in the heart of Washington D.C.
This conclusion has something to do with Korean term “lobbying” is synonymous with corrupt dealings between businesses and politicians, not legal practice of political fundraising. In theory, Korean politics are operated with only with public subsidies and individual donations with yearly cap of 20 million KRW per person ( in practice, there are a lot of dark money going around. The endless stream of news of politicians being stripped of their office for election law or Political Funding Act violation is the evidence of that. ) So, US lobbying model seems like corruption for Korean journalists.