Winia Dimchae "Voluntary Recall of Kimchi Refrigerators, 260,000 Units This Year... Actual Remaining Units 90,000"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Winia Dimchae announced on the 9th that it has completed voluntary recalls for kimchi refrigerators used for more than 15 years this year, taking action on 260,000 units, and estimates the actual remaining quantity to be around 90,000 units.

Winia Dimchae has expanded its free inspection activities for Dimchae refrigerators, which were previously conducted in cooperation with the Korea Consumer Agency, to year-round voluntary recalls under the supervision of the National Institute of Technology and Standards since the end of last year. It also carried out a nationwide campaign called the "Recall Kimchi Refrigerator Search Movement" in cooperation with local governments.

Previously, among the 2.78 million recalled products, excluding pre-recall actions and products manufactured 20 years ago with almost no fire incidents, as well as small 60-liter models, Winia Dimchae estimated the remaining recall quantity to be about 600,000 units, which is approximately 20% of the total. This year, it identified and completed actions on 260,000 recall target products nationwide.

Winia Dimchae analyzed that the actual remaining recall quantity is around 90,000 units. This calculation was based on a survey conducted with the Korea Consumer Organization from September to October targeting 22,064 households nationwide, reflecting the proportion of recall products in use that are subject to recall or have not been addressed, the percentage of households owning kimchi refrigerators among total domestic households, and the recall registration rate.

Through this consumer survey, Winia Dimchae confirmed that households using kimchi refrigerators for more than 15 years tend to have a higher proportion of elderly people aged 60 and above, and that consumers in island regions and smaller provincial and city districts have lower awareness of recall service information. Accordingly, the Korea Consumer Organization suggested actively promoting efforts to enhance accessibility to voluntary recall information.

Cho Kyunghyung, Executive Director of External Cooperation at Winia Dimchae, said, "We share the commitment to a joint role for consumer safety and, as part of practicing ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management, we will do our best to promptly address the recall products estimated to be around 90,000 units as the actual remaining quantity."