'MUSINSA' Faces 'Gender Discrimination Controversy'... CEO Jomanho Finally Apologizes "Will Improve Coupon Operation Direction"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Jo Man-ho, CEO of Musinsa, recently issued a direct apology regarding the 'gender discrimination controversy' raised over coupon distribution.

Recently, Musinsa caused controversy by issuing coupons only to female customers and suspending the account of a male customer who raised the issue for 60 days. In response to the backlash, Musinsa released a statement once, but as the situation did not improve, CEO Jo stepped in personally.

On the 9th, CEO Jo posted a statement on Musinsa's online mall and official social media services (SNS) saying, "We sincerely apologize for disappointing you due to the controversy over issuing coupons to specific customers."

CEO Jo stated, "We sincerely apologize for causing disappointment," and added, "We will improve the coupon operation direction so that greater benefits go to Musinsa's excellent users."

Along with CEO Jo's apology, Musinsa took measures to discontinue coupons and promotions that provided benefits based on gender after the last issued coupons. Additionally, on the 6th, they issued discount coupons of the same level to customers who did not receive the related benefits, attempting to appease the upset members.

CEO Jo continued, "As a gesture of apology for the wrong policy, for the next six months, all customers will be provided with one 20% discount coupon per product usable until the end of each month," emphasizing, "We will continuously review member benefits and promotions to prevent reverse discrimination caused by excessive promotions aimed at short-term goals."

Furthermore, Musinsa announced improvements to the comment operation policy for 'Update News' and 'Community Posts' within the Musinsa store. This was a measure taken after controversy arose from restricting comments by customers who raised issues related to coupon distribution.

CEO Jo explained, "In the future, if Musinsa blinds comments, we plan to develop and implement a guidance feature within one month so that comment authors can recognize the reason," adding, "This will be sequentially applied to the comment sections of Musinsa Store's Update News and Community Posts."

Finally, he said, "Musinsa has been able to grow until now thanks to the interest and affection of our customers," and "We will continue to listen carefully to the opinions of our customers and improve the immature parts so that we can provide greater satisfaction to the customers who cherish Musinsa."

Previously, the gender discrimination controversy at Musinsa arose on the 5th when a post titled 'Musinsa Coupon Gender Discrimination Controversy' was uploaded on an online community.

The author wrote, "I left a protest comment asking for Woosinsa (Musinsa's own women's fashion platform) coupons for men as well, and my account was suspended for 60 days." As this fact became known, public opinion worsened to the extent that a 'Musinsa boycott movement' was mentioned on SNS and other platforms.

As the controversy grew, Musinsa explained on its official SNS account on the 6th, "Woosinsa coupons were issued as part of marketing to relatively expand the proportion of female customers."

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