"False Advertising of Regular Masks as Medical Masks" … Busan City Investigates 3 Sellers

False advertising/provision of quasi-drug approved products = Busan City

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Jonghyo] The Busan Metropolitan City Special Judicial Police Department announced on the 13th that it is currently investigating three companies that falsely advertised regular masks through online shopping malls on charges of violating the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act.

According to Busan City, two companies, A and B, were caught falsely labeling regular masks as products approved as quasi-drugs by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and advertising them as if they had the performance of health masks that protect the respiratory system from infectious agents. Company C was caught for falsely advertising that their regular masks made from antibacterial fabric block droplets and remove 99% of viruses.

Since early February, these companies have been repackaging regular masks imported in bulk form into transparent plastic bags containing 5 to 10 masks each, listing them on online shopping malls, and have sold about 61,000 masks worth approximately 157 million KRW to date.

A Busan city official stated, "Health masks must be sealed and labeled with information that consumers need to know, such as the words 'quasi-drug,' manufacturing number, and expiration date," and urged consumers to be especially cautious about purchasing masks without product information sold online or through SNS.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.