Republic of Korea: National Assembly adopted Partial Amendment to Act on Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce (Bill No. 14874) including local operations requirement

On 30 December 2025, the National Assembly adopted the Act on Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce (Law No. 21312). The Act applies to overseas mail-order businesses and online marketplace intermediaries without a domestic address or place of business in Korea that meet revenue or consumer scale thresholds to be prescribed by Presidential Decree. Under Article 20-5, such operators will be required to designate a domestic representative holding a domestic address or place of business. Where the operator has established or exercises dominant influence over a domestic legal entity, the domestic representative will be required to be designated from among such entities. The domestic representative's name, address, telephone number, and email address will be required to be submitted to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) and published on the operator's website. Acts of the domestic representative will be deemed to be acts of the overseas operator under Article 20-5(4). The KFTC will have the power to request information from operators to verify whether they meet the designation threshold under Article 20-5(6). Article 20-5 will enter into force on 20 January 2027, one year after promulgation, at a later date than the remainder of the Act.