The Korean government responded to the criticism that its decision to ban purchases of products without KC certifications through cross-border shopping was unreasonable and excessive, stating that a blanket ban on purchases of products without KC certifications through cross-border shopping is not true and the Korean government will block only products with hazardous materials from entering the country.
“It is not true that there will be a block of 80 cross-border shopping items that have not received Korean safety certifications, and we have not even considered it,” a government official said at a briefing at the Government Complex in Seoul on May 19.
“The government’s basic plan is that relevant ministries will conduct intensive preliminary hazard investigations of the 80 items,” said Lee Jung-won, a high-ranking official at the Office for Government Policy Coordination. “The government will filter out and block items that are found to be hazardous as a result of investigations.”
“In order to determine items to be blocked from entering Korea, it is necessary to revise the law,” Lee said. “We will prepare a reasonable plan after public discussions, including those in the National Assembly, in the process of revising the law so that there will be no inconvenience to the public regarding the use of cross-border shopping services.”
Earlier, the government announced a plan to strengthen consumer safety and enhance corporate competitiveness in response to a surge in cross-border shopping purchases at a meeting of ministers for current affairs on May 16. The core of the plan is to secure consumer safety and prohibit direct sales of 80 imported items such as toys, batteries, and sterilizers that did not receive KC certifications.