'100% Domestic Red Pepper Powder' Found to be Chinese... Seoul City Arrests Seller Over 2.7 Billion Won

Buying cheap Chinese products in bulk, repackaging and reselling them as domestically grown and managed by local farmers
False advertising of '100% Korean origin' on 5 major domestic online shopping malls... Sold 93 tons to 40,000 people

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] On the 30th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Civil Affairs Judicial Police Unit announced that it had arrested a seller, Mr. A (61), who disguised cheap Chinese red pepper powder as "100% domestically produced" products and made sales worth tens of billions of won.

Mr. A purchased large quantities of Chinese red pepper powder, then either mixed it with domestic products or repackaged 100% Chinese red pepper powder into smaller packages (500g, 1kg, 2.5kg) and sold it while falsely advertising that the product was directly managed and supervised by farmers from cultivation to packaging. From January 2018 to March this year, Mr. A sold a total of 93 tons of red pepper powder through five major domestic online shopping malls, generating approximately 2.7 billion won in sales. The number of consumers who purchased these products reached 40,000. Those who falsely label the origin of agricultural and fishery products are subject to imprisonment for up to seven years or a fine of up to 100 million won under the "Act on the Labeling of Origin of Agricultural and Fishery Products."

In November last year, during the peak kimchi-making season, the Seoul Civil Affairs Judicial Police Unit conducted a "planned investigation of red pepper powder manufacturers and distributors violating origin labeling." Believing there might be more cases of origin labeling violations using similar methods, they carried out additional planned investigations, leading to the arrest of Mr. A.

The Seoul Civil Affairs Judicial Police Unit purchased about 20 types of red pepper powder products sold online as domestic products and requested origin verification from the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service. Some products from certain companies were determined to be foreign-made, prompting an investigation. After conducting six origin verifications on products sold by Mr. A, all were confirmed to have violated origin labeling regulations.

Mr. A, who was arrested, established an agricultural corporation in 2012 and operated the business in a corporate form by mobilizing family members including his son, daughter, and son-in-law. Despite having no farmers among the corporation members, the corporation falsely advertised that it directly cultivated peppers and produced and sold red pepper powder.

In fact, the product descriptions posted by Mr. A on online shopping malls claimed that farmers managed everything from cultivation to production and packaging, accompanied by photos of pepper fields, and falsely advertised with phrases such as "100% domestically produced," "use of natural organic fertilizer," and "dried under sunlight." Additionally, the products were promoted as having "achieved 100% customer satisfaction" and "over 80,000 customer reviews," being selected as the best seller on major domestic online shopping malls.

As domestic pepper prices rose, Mr. A began purchasing Chinese red pepper powder from 2018 to mix with domestic products to meet production costs. Gradually reducing domestic purchases, by 2020, 85% of the products sold were actually "100% Chinese," yet the origin was falsely labeled as "100% domestic." To evade detection, Mr. A discarded "Chinese origin" stickers on bulk Chinese red pepper powder and kept only "domestic origin" stickers, and when a search was conducted, he hastily attached domestic origin stickers to Chinese red pepper powder.

During this process, Mr. A carefully set prices similar to other sellers to avoid suspicion that the product was Chinese if priced too low. He set the selling price based on the wholesale price of high-grade domestic products to match appropriate prices of other sellers. Although he never used domestic Cheongyang peppers, he exploited the higher price of Cheongyang peppers by labeling spicy red pepper powder as "Cheongyang," selling it at a higher price than regular red pepper powder.

Park Byung-hyun, head of the Civil Affairs Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Civil Affairs Judicial Police Unit, said, "False labeling of origin disrupts distribution order and damages consumer trust, and it is an illegal act that must be eradicated. We will thoroughly track and arrest offenders violating the origin labeling of agricultural and fishery products to protect consumers' right to know and ensure fair trade." He added, "When purchasing agricultural products, please check the origin, and if the origin is not labeled or seems suspicious, report it to the 120 Dasan Call Center, the Seoul Civil Affairs Crime Reporting Center, or the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service."

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