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

On 4 December 2025, the Act on Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce (Bill No. 2214874) was introduced to the National Assembly as a committee substitute consolidating 10 earlier bills submitted between August 2024 and September 2025. The Amendment would apply 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 the proposed Article 20-5, such operators would 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 would be required to be designated from among such entities. The domestic representative's name, address, telephone number, and email address would be required to be submitted to the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) and published on the operator's website. Acts of the domestic representative would be deemed to be acts of the overseas operator under Article 20-5(4). The KFTC would have the power to request information from operators to verify whether they meet the designation threshold under Article 20-5(6). The Amendment would enter into force 6 months after promulgation, with the domestic representative provisions entering into force one year after promulgation.