Ali and Temu's 'Chinese Hanbok'... "Deceiving Korean Consumers"

AliExpress and Temu Found to Have 'Chinese Hanbok' Category
Seo Kyung-deok "Causes Foreigners' Misunderstanding... Deceptive to Consumers"

China's representative direct purchase shopping apps AliExpress and Temu have created a 'Chinese Hanbok' section, sparking controversy. This category sells Hanfu (漢服), traditional Chinese clothing.

The "Chinese Hanbok" section created on the Chinese direct purchase app AliExpress.
[Photo by Seokyungdeok Facebook, AliExpress capture]

On the 6th, Professor Seo Kyung-duk of Sungshin Women's University posted a screenshot of the AliExpress page on his social media, criticizing it as "an act of deceiving Korean consumers." Professor Seo said, "A Chinese shopping mall famous even in Korea is conducting a 'Hanbok process.' AliExpress has over 6 million monthly Korean users. Such a shopping mall has created a category called 'Chinese Hanbok' and is selling Chinese Hanfu," he criticized.

He continued, "For the past few years, China has been making unfounded claims that Korea's origin is Hanfu," adding, "It has been revealed that AliExpress is also siding with these Chinese claims." He also added, "Temu has over 4 million monthly Korean users. When searching for Hanbok on the shopping mall, many Hanfu items also appear, which can cause misunderstandings among foreigners."

Professor Seo emphasized, "If Chinese companies do business targeting Koreans, they must at least observe the minimum courtesy of respecting Korean culture and history first," and stressed, "The problem is that there is no sign of such respect at all. AliExpress and Temu must make prompt corrections."

This is not the first time Chinese direct purchase apps have caused issues. Previously, when searching for 'Kimchi' on AliExpress, the results showed 'Pao cai (泡菜),' a Chinese-style pickled vegetable, which drew heavy criticism from Korean netizens. At that time, Professor Seo sharply stated, "If global companies do business targeting Koreans, they should not only view it from a commercial perspective but also prioritize understanding the basic sentiments of Koreans."

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