- The Framework Act on Consumers creates the Korea Consumer Agency, the 1372 complaints line, the Consumer Dispute Resolution Criteria and free mediation whose accepted decisions bind like a court settlement.
- Each sales channel has its own act: the E-Commerce Act online, the Door-to-Door Sales Act for home and telephone sales and continuous contracts, the Instalment Transactions Act for instalments.
- Consumers can end contracts of a month or more for a periodic fee at any time; the Supreme Court applied this to a five-year golf membership.
- The Product Liability Act treats importers as manufacturers, presumes defects in some cases and allows damages of up to three times the loss for knowingly sold defective products.
- A foreign governing-law clause does not remove Korean mandatory protections for consumers in Korea, and from January 2027 large foreign online sellers need a Korean agent.
Foreign businesses meet Korean consumer law at different moments: the first refund demand that cites a Korean statute, a call from the Korea Consumer Agency, a KFTC letter about terms, a product injury claim against the Korean importer. Each time the question is the same — which of Korea’s consumer laws applies, and what does it demand? This guide answers it for a business that sells to Korean consumers, from Korea or from abroad.
It complements our guides to Korean marketplaces and subscriptions, which go deeper on online selling; product rules for cosmetics and food and medicines are covered separately.
The map of Korean consumer law
| Law | Korean | What it covers | Regulator |
|---|---|---|---|
| Framework Act on Consumers | 소비자기본법 | Consumer rights, the Korea Consumer Agency, dispute criteria, mediation, recalls, group actions | KFTC, KCA, ministries |
| E-Commerce Act | 전자상거래법 | Online and mail-order sales, platforms, withdrawal, dark patterns | KFTC |
| Door-to-Door Sales Act | 방문판매법 | Home and telephone sales, multi-level marketing, continuous contracts | KFTC |
| Instalment Transactions Act | 할부거래법 | Instalment sales, prepaid instalment schemes | KFTC |
| Act on the Regulation of Terms and Conditions | 약관규제법 | Unfair standard terms | KFTC |
| Fair Labelling and Advertising Act | 표시광고법 | False and misleading advertising and labels | KFTC |
| Product Liability Act | 제조물책임법 | Liability for defective products | Courts |
| Framework Act on Product Safety and sector laws | 제품안전기본법 등 | Product safety, certification, recalls | KATS, MFDS, others |
The core statutes.
The Framework Act and the Korea Consumer Agency
The Framework Act on Consumers sets out the consumer’s basic rights and builds the machinery. The Korea Consumer Agency (한국소비자원, hanguk sobija-won) (KCA) investigates complaints, tests products, publishes comparisons and runs the Consumer Dispute Mediation Committee (소비자분쟁조정위원회, sobija bunjaeng jojeong wiwonhoe). Consumers reach it through the 1372 counselling centre, by phone or online, free of charge.
The Consumer Dispute Resolution Criteria (소비자분쟁해결기준, sobija bunjaeng haegyeol gijun), issued under Article 16, are the most practical document in Korean consumer law. Product by product and service by service, they set what a fair outcome looks like: warranty periods (commonly one year for consumer goods), when a defect earns a replacement or a refund rather than a repair, how long spare parts must be kept, how much of a course, membership or subscription is refunded on early termination. They are not statutes, and parties may agree otherwise, but where there is no agreement they are the benchmark — and the KCA and the courts use them.
When counselling fails, either party can apply for mediation. The committee proposes a settlement; if both sides accept it, it has the effect of a court settlement and can be enforced. Where fifty or more consumers suffer the same kind of harm, the KCA can run a collective dispute mediation (집단분쟁조정, jipdan bunjaeng jojeong), and qualifying consumer organisations can bring a consumer group action (소비자단체소송, sobija danche sosong) under Article 70 to stop unlawful conduct — an injunction, not damages. Korea has no general damages class action for consumers.
Selling online
Online sales are governed by the E-Commerce Act: seller identification and the product information notice before the sale; a 7-day right of withdrawal from receipt, extended to 3 months for goods that differ from the listing; refunds within 3 business days of the goods coming back; no penalty for withdrawal; and, since February 2025, a ban on six dark patterns, with consent required 30 days before a free trial converts to paid or a subscription price rises. Platforms are liable alongside sellers if they fail to identify them. These rules are set out in detail in our guides to marketplaces and subscriptions.
From 21 January 2027, foreign online sellers and platforms with no Korean address must appoint a Korean domestic agent if they had KRW 1 trillion of revenue the previous year, averaged a million Korean visitors a month, or are asked for information by the KFTC after consumer harm. Fines and business suspension for non-compliance follow from February 2027.
Door-to-door, telephone, instalments and continuous contracts
The Door-to-Door Sales Act covers sales away from business premises and by telephone solicitation, multi-level marketing, and — most relevant to many foreign service businesses — continuous transactions (계속거래, gyesok georae): contracts for goods or services supplied for a month or more against a periodic or upfront fee. Gyms, language schools, beauty programmes, maintenance contracts, rental and membership schemes fall here. Door-to-door and telephone buyers can withdraw within 14 days.
In a continuous transaction the consumer may terminate at any time under Article 31, and under Article 32 the business may charge only a reasonable penalty, assessed against KFTC criteria, and must refund the rest. The Supreme Court applied this to a five-year golf membership with a penalty clause (2015다222654): the consumer could leave mid-term and the clause was cut back. Annual prepaid plans should be priced and drafted on the assumption that a Korean customer can leave early with a pro-rata refund minus a modest charge.
The Instalment Transactions Act gives buyers on instalments — three or more payments over two months or more — a 7-day withdrawal right and requires disclosure of the total price and interest; prepaid instalment schemes, such as funeral plans, need registration and protection of the prepaid funds.
Services: courses, travel, beauty and events
Service businesses meet the dispute criteria more often than retailers, because the criteria set refund scales for almost every consumer service. Private academies and online courses refund according to the share of the course already delivered; fitness and beauty memberships according to the period used, less a capped charge; travel packages and hotel bookings according to how close to departure the cancellation comes, with the business’s own losses relevant only within the scale. Wedding, event and photography services have their own tables. Foreign businesses that run courses, retreats or events for Korean customers should map their cancellation policy against the criteria for their sector before launch.
Where the service is cross-border — a language school abroad, a tour operator selling Korean customers a European trip, an overseas clinic — the Korean consumer will still compare the policy with the Korean criteria and, if unhappy, call 1372. The KCA cannot order a foreign business to pay, but it will contact it, publish patterns of complaints and work with foreign consumer agencies. For businesses that care about Korean reviews, that is enforcement enough.
When the Korea Consumer Agency calls
A KCA case usually begins with a letter or email to the business summarising the consumer’s complaint and asking for its position within a short deadline. The answer should be factual, in Korean, with the documents — order, terms, delivery record, inspection or repair report — and an offer if one is justified. The KCA then recommends a settlement; most cases end there. If either side refuses, the consumer can apply for mediation, and the committee will decide on the documents and, sometimes, a hearing. A business that ignores the process loses the chance to put its case and will see the committee decide on the consumer’s account alone.
Two habits help. Keep complaint records by product and issue, because the KCA looks for patterns and a business that spots them first can fix the product, the terms or the listing before the agency publishes them. And treat recurring complaints as a legal risk as well as a service problem: the same facts that produce KCA cases produce KFTC investigations under the advertising and e-commerce laws.
Prices, receipts and disclosure in shops
Physical retail has its own disclosure rules. Prices must be displayed on goods or shelves in won under the price-labelling system, unit prices are required for many groceries in larger stores, and receipts are issued electronically through the card and cash-receipt systems that the tax office runs. Shops may set their own exchange and refund policies for change of mind — there is no statutory cooling-off period for shop purchases — but the policy must be displayed and the dispute criteria still apply to defective goods. Foreign retail concepts that operate a no-returns policy at home can keep it in Korea for change of mind, provided it is visible at the point of sale.
Unfair terms
Standard terms used with Korean consumers are subject to the Act on the Regulation of Terms and Conditions. The business must present and explain important terms; ambiguous terms are read against it; and terms that are unfairly disadvantageous to the customer are void. The Act lists the usual suspects: exclusions of liability for the business’s own intent or gross negligence, unreasonable penalties, unilateral rights to change price or service, restrictions on the customer’s legal remedies and jurisdiction clauses that make it unreasonably hard for the customer to sue. The KFTC reviews terms on complaint or on its own initiative — it has corrected the terms of foreign streaming services, app stores and platforms — and publishes model standard terms (표준약관, pyojun yakgwan) for many sectors, which are a safe template.
A Korean version of the terms is not legally required in every case, but a term a Korean consumer could not understand is hard to enforce against him. Translate, and then review the translation under Korean law rather than the original.
Advertising and labels
The Fair Labelling and Advertising Act bans false, exaggerated, deceptive, unfairly comparative and slanderous advertising. Under Article 5 the KFTC can require the advertiser to substantiate its claims; failing to do so is itself a breach. Sanctions include correction orders, public notices of the violation, surcharges based on sales, and criminal penalties in serious cases, and consumers harmed by unlawful advertising can claim damages without having to prove the advertiser’s intent or negligence. Endorsements and reviews follow KFTC guidelines: paid relationships must be disclosed clearly in Korean.
Price advertising deserves attention: discounts must be from prices actually charged, compulsory charges must be in the headline price, and “free” must be free. The same KFTC watches comparative claims (“Korea’s number one”) and environmental claims, which now need specific evidence.
Product liability
The Product Liability Act imposes strict liability for damage caused by a defective product — a manufacturing defect, a design defect or a warning defect — beyond the product itself. Crucially for foreign businesses, a “manufacturer” includes anyone who imports products as a business: the Korean importer is liable as if it made the product. A supplier that cannot identify the manufacturer or importer becomes liable in its place.
Two features make Korean product liability sharper than its reputation. Since 2018, where a manufacturer knew of a defect and failed to take necessary measures, causing death or serious injury, the court may award damages of up to three times the loss. And Article 3-2 presumes a defect and causation where the victim shows that the damage arose in normal use, in an area within the manufacturer’s control, and would not ordinarily happen without a defect. Defences include development risk — the defect could not be discovered with the science of the time — and compliance with mandatory standards. Claims must be brought within 3 years of the victim learning of the damage and the liable party, and within 10 years of supply.
Practical consequences: the Korean importer should have product liability insurance that covers Korea; the supply agreement with the foreign manufacturer should carry an indemnity and a recall-cost allocation; and Korean warnings and instructions must be accurate, because a warning defect is a defect.
Recalls
Under the Framework Act a business that learns of a defect that may harm consumers must report it, and may recall voluntarily under Article 48; the authorities can recommend a recall under Article 49 and order recall, destruction or a sales ban under Article 50. Sector laws — product safety, food, cosmetics, medicines, vehicles — have their own recall regimes run by the Korea Agency for Technology and Standards, MFDS and others. Recalls are published, and Korean consumers notice. The KCA also monitors foreign recalls and cross-border products and publishes warnings about goods recalled abroad that are still sold to Korean consumers online.
In Korea the importer is the manufacturer. Insure like one.
Voixa Korea
Personal data and marketing
Consumer data is protected by the Personal Information Protection Act, one of Asia’s strictest; see Korea’s GDPR. Marketing messages need prior opt-in consent under the Network Act, with “(광고)” at the start of the message and separate consent for messages at night. Data breaches affecting consumers are reported to regulators and data subjects, and the KCA and KFTC treat security failures as consumer issues too.
Foreign businesses and Korean law
A business that directs its activities at consumers in Korea cannot escape these rules by choosing a foreign law: under the Private International Law Act the consumer keeps the protection of the mandatory rules of Korea, and can sue in Korea. Enforcement against a business with no Korean presence is harder, but the KFTC and KCA work through platforms, card networks, foreign regulators and, from 2027, the domestic-agent regime. For a business with a Korean subsidiary or importer, everything above applies directly to that company — which is one more reason to put the Korean entity’s obligations into the group’s supply and distribution contracts.
A worked example
A Swiss maker of premium coffee machines sells in Korea through its Seoul subsidiary, online and in department stores, with an annual maintenance plan. A customer’s machine fails three times in ten months with the same pump fault. Under the dispute criteria the third repeat failure earns a replacement, which the subsidiary provides. Another customer cancels the maintenance plan after four months; as a continuous transaction, it is refunded pro rata less a modest charge, rather than refused under the global terms.
When a batch of machines shows an overheating fault, the subsidiary — legally the manufacturer, as importer — reports it, recalls the affected serial numbers voluntarily, and claims the cost from the Swiss parent under the indemnity in their distribution agreement. Its Korean product liability insurer is notified the same day. No consumer is injured; the KCA lists the recall as voluntary, which is the best outcome a recall can have.
Mistakes we see
- Global terms copied into Korean with no-refund clauses and foreign courts only.
- Annual plans that cannot be ended early, contrary to the continuous-contract rules.
- Warranties shorter than the dispute criteria, or that only work abroad.
- No product liability insurance for the Korean importer.
- Advertising claims without evidence on file when the KFTC asks.
- Ignoring the 1372 call — the cheapest stage at which to settle.
- Recalls decided abroad without a Korean report.
Korean terms you will meet
Questions readers ask
What is Korea’s main consumer protection law?
There is no single code. The Framework Act on Consumers sets up the institutions and dispute criteria; the E-Commerce Act, Door-to-Door Sales Act and Instalment Transactions Act regulate each sales channel; the Terms Act, advertising law and Product Liability Act apply across them.
What is the Korea Consumer Agency?
The public body that handles consumer complaints through the 1372 line, tests products and runs the Consumer Dispute Mediation Committee, whose accepted decisions bind like a court settlement.
Can a Korean customer cancel a long membership early?
Yes. Contracts of a month or more for a periodic fee are continuous transactions; the consumer may terminate at any time, paying only a reasonable penalty.
Is an importer liable for defective products?
Yes. Under the Product Liability Act an importer is treated as a manufacturer, and damages can reach three times the loss for knowingly sold defects.
What warranty must be given in Korea?
The Consumer Dispute Resolution Criteria set the benchmark — commonly one year for consumer goods, with rules on repair, replacement and refund.
Do Korean rules apply if my terms choose foreign law?
For consumers in Korea, yes: the Private International Law Act preserves Korean mandatory protections and lets the consumer sue in Korea.
Are there class actions for consumers in Korea?
Not general damages class actions. There is collective dispute mediation for 50 or more consumers and group actions by consumer organisations for injunctions.
Alexander Baranov
Founder of the BCA Group · cross-border corporate and tax adviser since 2008
Alexander advises foreign founders and groups on company formation, tax structuring and corporate law in more than 40 jurisdictions across Europe, the Gulf, Asia and Latin America. He is the author of nine books on international business and tax and writes regularly for professional finance and tax journals. He works in English, German, Spanish and Russian.
This guide is based on the Korean statutes cited in the text and on our own filings. It is reviewed when the law or official rates change.