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| Customers at a Mumuso store in Bangkok. Yonhap |
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| Fake Korean goods from China, with explanations in awkward Korean. Yonhap |
By Jung Min-ho
The government has been urged to act against fake Korean brands that have thrived in other countries over the past few years.
In a report last week, the National Assembly Budget Office asked the Korea Customs Service (KCS) to take stronger action against sellers of "low-quality, fake Korean products" overseas, mostly in Southeast Asia, where K-pop and K-dramas have become wildly popular.
The report specifically mentions Mumuso, which claims to be a Korean retailer, even without a sales office in Korea. Mumuso is headquartered in Shanghai and most of its products are made in China.
Capitalizing on hallyu, or the Korean cultural wave, Mumuso has successfully promoted itself as a Korean brand and expanded its business to many countries, including India, Canada and Vietnam.
"Low-quality products of fake Korean companies could undermine foreign customers' trust in Korea and Korean products," the report says. "The KCS should look into whether such brands violate international trade rules or copyright laws in the countries where they operate … The KCS should also come up with ways to raise awareness of the issue overseas."
According to the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), Ilahui, Mini Good and Yoyoso are among the Chinese copycat businesses popping up across Asia.
"Such companies create a false impression that their products are manufactured, designed and sold in Korea. They put signs such as "KR" and "KOREA" on their products in an apparent effort to make them look like Korean products; or they play K-pop music at their stores," the KOTRA's Philippines office says on its website.
Authorities in some countries have taken notice of the problem. The ABS-CBN News, a media outlet in the Philippines, reported on May 28 that the nation's Food and Drug Administration started advising people to be vigilant against fake Korean brands, saying sellers could face regulatory action.
More PR effort also seems to be needed, as some media outlets, including the Times of India, have falsely called Mumuso a Korean brand.
