Is Korea’s online market China’s playground?

We cannot surrender our online market to Chinese companies. The DP must carefully weigh whom the regulations benefit more.

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) last week embarked on an investigation into AliExpress — China’s e-commerce giant under Alibaba Group — after a spate of complaints from Korean consumers. The antitrust agency said that the inspection is aimed at checking the Chinese company’s compliance to local rules on consumer protection. The move comes belated, given a gush of complaints from Korean users over its fake and defective products and poor refund policy.

The Personal Information Protection Commission has been probing Chinese shopping platforms such as AliExpress, Temu and Shein since last month. The top 3 Chinese shopping apps have secured a combined 14.67 million Korean users. The Chinese government can dig into the personal data archives of local companies, so our authorities must thoroughly investigate the possibility of Korean customers’ personal information going to the hands of the Chinese government for exploitation.

Chinese e-commerce players have been rapidly foraying into the Korean market. AliExpress has ascended to No. 2 after Coupang in terms of user count. Temu is No. 4. They have quickly encroached into the Korean market thanks to their price competitiveness and feisty marketing promotions.

AliExpress now offers Korean brands and even sells fresh food like vegetables and strawberries produced by Korean farmers. Given their enlarged influence, our government must closely check Chinese players’ compliance to our regulations. They can evade regulatory scrutiny, as much of their products are purchased directly from China.

At the same time, all the outmoded regulations stifling domestic retailers should be lifted to level the field. Chinese retailers armed with capital and price competitiveness are raiding Korea’s online market. And yet, homegrown grocery chains cannot make their overnight or dawn deliveries to help protect small players.

To solve the problem, the Retail Industry Advance Act should be revised. But the majority opposition Democratic Party opposes it, citing apparent disadvantages expected from Korea’s smaller players. But regulations to contain large players are eating away at overall local industry competitiveness and inconveniencing consumers and merchants. We cannot surrender our online market to Chinese companies. The DP must carefully weigh whom the regulations benefit more.