[Exclusive] Alibaba "Japanese Masks Also Delivered to Korea... Korea and Japan Helping Each Other" (Comprehensive)

Nihon Keizai news video capture

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Sunmi Park] Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba has officially confirmed that the masks it donated to Hokkaido, Japan, are of Korean origin. Alibaba also stated that masks sent to Korea included some made in Japan.

On the 11th, the Jack Ma Foundation confirmed in response to Asia Economy's inquiry about whether the 10,000 COVID-19 protective masks donated by Alibaba founder Jack Ma to Hokkaido were Korean-made, saying "Yes." They added, "Alibaba's stance is that global problems should be solved with global resources," explaining, "When China faced difficulties, the appropriate allocation of supplies worldwide played a significant role in preventing the spread within Chinese communities."

Alibaba did not clearly answer how it obtained Korean-made masks to send to Japan. However, they indirectly indicated that the masks were received from hospitals by stating, "Hospitals in China have masks and various protective equipment received from regions around the world."

The Jack Ma Foundation explained, "In the current situation where Korea and Japan are actively responding to the COVID-19 crisis, what matters is the supplies themselves that meet the demand of the affected areas," adding, "Functional supplies should be sent faster to the regions in need." This statement reflects awareness of the growing criticism in Korea over Korean-made masks being sent to Japan under China's support.

They further added, "There were also Japanese-made masks mixed in with those Alibaba sent to Korea," and said, "The fact that Korean masks were delivered to Japan and Japanese masks were delivered to Korea can be remembered as a historic moment where both countries helped each other overcome COVID-19."

Regarding the reason for supporting masks to both Korea and Japan, Alibaba responded, "When China faced difficulties, it received support from numerous countries worldwide, but we are especially grateful for the support from Korea and Japan."

The news that China sent Korean-made masks to Japan spread after the Nihon Keizai Shimbun in Japan published an online article titled "Alibaba Founder Jack Ma Donates 10,000 Masks to Hokkaido" on the 9th, along with a video presumed to show boxes of Korean-made masks.

The video shows boxes of masks donated by Jack Ma, with Korean text reading "Puredom Health Mask," which is produced in Korea. The masks are manufactured by the Korean company Lock&Lock.

Korean netizens who watched the video pointed out that it was inappropriate for Korean-made products to be exported abroad amid the mask shortage caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.