Report: South Korea Has Spent $363 Million Lobbying U.S. Lawmakers

Recent lobbying disclosures have revealed South Korea’s deep lobbying network in Washington D.C. and beyond. The country’s massive lobbying machine is particularly noteworthy because of the unfriendly environment American tech companies are facing in the Korean market.

A new report shows how South Korea has spent heavily to lobby U.S. officials in recent years, spending a total of $363 million over the last decade, with South Korean state entities funding over $236 million of that total through lobbying firm retainers, influence operations, and targeted communication to American lawmakers.

The report cites OpenSecrets data and is authored by Washington lobbying expert and former Wall Street Journal investigative reporter Brody Mullins. Mullins won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting.

South Korea has consistently ranked among the top 10 foreign governments lobbying the United States, alongside Saudi Arabia and China, whose economy is 10 times larger, data from OpenSecrets shows. In 2024, Korea spent more on lobbying than many of America’s largest corporations, including Amazon, Google and Meta.

The spending comes as Seoul faces mounting pressure from Washington on a range of issues from national security to trade, including recent U.S. requests that South Korea contribute naval forces to help secure the Strait of Hormuz and a push for Seoul to invest tens of billions of dollars into a variety of U.S. projects.

The massive lobbying effort is particularly noteworthy given the treatment of American tech companies by the South Korean government. Breitbart News previously reported that Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) labeled the country’s treatment of American company Coupang as “unprecedented persecution:”

“Trade agreements are only as strong as our willingness to stand up for them, and we are acting today to ensure that international competition is governed by rules, not the whims of politicians,” Neil Mehta, the Greenoaks founder and managing partner, said. Greenoaks owns over $1.1 billion in Coupang stock, and argues that South Korea’s actions have cost it hundreds of millions of dollars. Altimeter has around $210 million in Coupang stock. Coupang, which has become South Korea’s second-largest private employer after Samsung, experienced a personal data breach that affected roughly 33 million customers in South Korea, which led to an investigation and lawsuits from investors and consumers.

The report also calls out discrepancies in how Korean officials have described their lobbying spending to the Korean public versus what lobbying disclosure records show, noting Korean officials publicly stated that that the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) spent a total of $3.4 million on lobbying-related activities from 2022 to 2025, but FARA records show the spend was significantly higher – closer to $5.4 million.

“These totals far exceed the spending that Korean officials and Korean media have previously reported,” Mullins said, noting that under U.S. law, advocacy activities by South Korea’s state entities like MOTIE are considered lobbying and count toward Korea’s total advocacy expenditure.

Records show Seoul retained 29 entities and more than 180 registered foreign agents in Washington from 2021 through 2025, including a range of high-profile firms including Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, BGR Group, Akin Gump, Mercury Public Affairs and Squire Patton Boggs, according to the report. The firms have given Seoul access to a rotating roster of well-connected former congressional lawmakers, staff, and former White House officials from both parties.

“South Korea’s extensive efforts to cultivate influence in Washington deserve greater scrutiny, particularly as Seoul deepens its relationship with Beijing. China has made no secret of its efforts to exploit American alliances and advance its interests at our expense,” said former Rep. Chris Stewart, who served on the House Intelligence Committee. “Against that backdrop, the extraordinary access South Korea has secured to senior U.S. national security officials raises legitimate questions about whose strategic interests are being advanced. Congress should take a closer look at whether Seoul’s growing ties with China are beginning to undermine the interests of our alliance.”

Records show that hired lobbyists have given the foreign government top-tier access to some of Washington’s most inner circles, including a Mercury lobbyist who for months had a standing weekly phone call with White House National Security Council (NSC) chief of staff Brian McCormack on behalf of South Korea.

Despite South Korea’s significant expenditures, Mullins writes that lobbying records show how unevenly Seoul’s lobbying spending has translated into results. Mercury made just two documented contacts for Korea in the second half of 2025, one with a Department of Homeland Security official and one with a White House aide. Korea paid Mercury a $120,000 retainer for those six months, an estimated $60,000 per contact, according to Mullins. The filing covering the first half of 2026 shows zero documented contacts, yet Korea paid Mercury another $120,000 for that period.

Korean officials have also publicly claimed they cannot secure the meetings they need with key U.S. lawmakers, especially as the House Judiciary Committee investigated Korea’s treatment of American companies earlier this year. Democratic Party Rep. Lee Ki-heon called the lack of access “shameful.” When the committee report was released, Korean officials, including the Foreign Ministry, suggested the report was “one-sided” due to Korea’s insufficient access.

However, disclosure filings show that lobbyists working for South Korea contacted a key committee staff member roughly a dozen times through June, with Patton Boggs launching a series of emails, calls and text exchanges. Korean officials also received a closed-door meeting with committee lawmakers to discuss the investigation, according to sources close to the committee.

“For the amount of money South Korea is spending on lobbying and connections they’ve recruited, it’s surprising how little success Korean officials have had in promoting some of their recent positions on trade and national security,” said a former congressional staffer close to the issue. “President Lee should probably be asking himself, is this due to a lack of access, or is it due to a lack of trust from American leaders?”

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of AI, free speech, and online censorship.