South Korea's Fair Trade Commission has begun proceedings to fine Coupang up to 100 million won, approximately $73,000, for obstructing an on-site inspection into suspected violations of the Act on Fair Transactions in Large Retail Business. The FTC recently sent the company an examiner's report, giving Coupang an opportunity to respond and review the evidence. The law allows fines of up to 200 million won for refusing, obstructing or evading an inspection without justifiable grounds, but the maximum is halved for Coupang's first refusal. The FTC attempted the inspection from Aug. 19 to 24 this year, but Coupang refused because it had not received advance notice and later sued to overturn the inspection order. A court suspended the order for about a month before rejecting Coupang's injunction request on the 23rd of last month, ruling that the public interest in the inspection outweighed the company's concerns. Coupang has filed a further appeal. The FTC, which conducted 701 unannounced on-site inspections from 2023 through July this year, plans to resume the Coupang inspection and tighten rules against companies evading such probes.