The Fair Trade Commission has confirmed that it initially ruled there was no wrongdoing by Seo Labs, a cosmetics company owned by Cho Min, daughter of Cho Kuk, without reviewing the upload and modification history of its online sales pages. The decision was based on the company's explanations, but after the complainant submitted counter-evidence showing the sales page at the time of the alleged violations, the commission has now launched a re-investigation, raising concerns about the thoroughness of the initial inquiry.
On October 12, a report from Aju Economy revealed that the Fair Trade Commission did not examine the upload records or modification history of the sales pages registered by Seo Labs on various online platforms during its initial investigation.
Seo Labs was fined 500,000 won for violations on its sales page at the Shinsegae Internet Duty-Free Shop. However, the company claimed there were no violations on other platforms such as Coupang, HwaHae, and Gmarket, and the Fair Trade Commission agreed, ruling no wrongdoing on those platforms.
The issue arises from the lack of verification regarding whether the materials submitted by Seo Labs reflected the sales page at the time of the complaint. The complainant's evidence, dated October of the previous year, contrasts with the materials submitted by Seo Labs, which were prepared in November of the same year.
Despite the one-month difference in the timing of the documents, the Fair Trade Commission based its no-wrongdoing decision solely on Seo Labs' materials without verifying the upload and modification history of the sales pages.
As a result, the complainant resubmitted evidence containing information about the sales page's violations as it appeared on various platforms in October of the previous year.
The complainant argued that the submitted materials contained discrepancies regarding the violations and raised concerns about the potential submission of false documents by Seo Labs, prompting a request for a re-investigation.
On October 7, the Fair Trade Commission convened a review committee for the re-submitted complaint and accepted the complainant's objections, initiating a re-investigation. This will include a review of the sales page's status and any changes that occurred at the time of the initial complaint.
With the Fair Trade Commission now conducting a re-investigation, it appears difficult to avoid criticisms of having neglected necessary verifications in its initial no-wrongdoing ruling. The commission did not check the upload and modification history of the sales pages, despite the differing timelines of the materials submitted by Seo Labs and the complainant's evidence.
In response, lawmaker Cho Jung-hoon stated, "If the commission made a no-wrongdoing judgment based solely on the materials submitted by the business without verifying when those materials were modified or comparing them with the original data held by the platforms, it is hard to consider the investigation process sufficient. With new evidence submitted, this time, a thorough verification based on objective materials from that period is essential."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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