Issues have resurfaced regarding the mislabeling of Hanbok as the Chinese traditional attire Hanfu on popular online shopping platforms in South Korea. Following the first controversy in 2023, some companies implemented improvements to their search systems and enhanced monitoring, yet similar incidents have continued for over three years.
On November 8, Professor Seo Kyung-duk of Sungshin Women's University pointed out through social media that major domestic shopping sites, including Coupang, Naver, Gmarket, and 11th Street, are still selling Hanbok without distinguishing it from Hanfu.
Professor Seo stated, "This provides further justification for the Chinese claim that 'Hanbok originated from Hanfu,'" urging for continued management from the platforms.
This is not the first time such a controversy has arisen. In January 2023, Professor Seo conducted an investigation of over 30 major online shopping malls and found instances where Hanbok was introduced as Hanfu on sites like Coupang, Tmon, Interpark, Gmarket, and Auction. Some products were labeled as 'Chinese Hanbok Hanfu' and 'Tang Dynasty style Hanbok.'
In response to the controversy, some companies took steps to improve. 11th Street and Gmarket reviewed their search systems and strengthened internal monitoring, addressing the issue of Hanfu appearing in searches for Hanbok.
However, similar problems recurred the following year. In 2024, products mixing Hanbok and Hanfu were sold on Naver Smart Store, Coupang, 11th Street, and Gmarket. Although some companies designated terms like 'Chinese Hanbok' as prohibited, variations in wording still led to similar products appearing in searches.
In October of last year, ahead of the Chuseok holiday, products labeled as 'Chinese style Hanbok' were also found on domestic shopping sites.
The controversy has spread to international platforms as well. On November 6, instances of Hanbok being introduced as Hanfu on AliExpress were highlighted, and two days later, similar issues were raised again on domestic shopping sites.
The core of the ongoing controversy lies in product information management. In open markets where sellers directly register product names and search terms, inaccurate labels can appear in search results. Even if specific terms are blocked, it remains challenging to filter out all products with similar descriptions.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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