Presidential Office Apologizes for Confusion and Inconvenience Caused by Overseas Direct Purchase Policy, Orders Measures to Prevent Recurrence

Yoon "Strengthen Preliminary Review, Party-Government Consultations, and Public Opinion Collection"
"No Report to President Regarding Direct Strike"

Sung Tae-yoon, Chief of Policy Office at the Presidential Office, is briefing on the controversy over overseas direct purchase (direct import) at the Presidential Office building in Yongsan, Seoul, on the 20th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Presidential Office apologized on the 20th, stating, "We apologize for causing confusion and inconvenience to the public due to the government's announcement of measures related to overseas direct purchases (direct import)."

On the same day, Sung Tae-yoon, the Policy Chief of the Presidential Office, held a briefing at the Yongsan Presidential Office in the afternoon and officially apologized, saying, "Although the policy requiring the National Certification Integrated Mark (KC) certification for direct imports is intended for public safety, we regret that we did not sufficiently consider that it excessively restricts consumer choice and causes inconvenience to citizens striving to purchase affordable products."

Earlier, on the 16th, the government announced safety measures for overseas direct purchases, mainly prohibiting direct imports of 80 items including children's products and electrical and household goods without KC certification. However, criticism arose that the regulation excessively restricts consumer choice, leading to widespread controversy.

Sung explained, "During the process of announcing and explaining the policy, we failed to accurately convey the actual plan," adding, "Even if KC certification is introduced, related procedures such as public opinion gathering for legal amendments are necessary, and before the law is amended, the policy is to block only items confirmed to be harmful. We did not sufficiently explain this, which caused confusion as it was reported that overseas direct purchases of 80 items would be banned starting in June."

In particular, as the controversy over overseas direct purchases intensified, President Yoon listened to public opinion and ordered the Prime Minister's Office to provide accurate explanations and to eliminate public inconvenience. He also instructed a full review of the plan to introduce KC certification for overseas direct purchase products and urged the preparation of measures that can balance consumer choice and safety in depth.

Sung added, "President Yoon instructed to strengthen policy explanations including prior review, consultation between the ruling party and government, public opinion gathering, and briefings to prevent recurrence, and to re-examine the government's policy risk system," and said, "We will do our best to enhance the government's policy credibility through this incident. We once again apologize to the public for the confusion and inconvenience caused."

Additionally, the Presidential Office stated that a task force (TF) led by the Office for Government Policy Coordination has been operating since March to review the overseas direct purchase policy, but the Presidential Office did not participate in the TF. On the same day, a Presidential Office official told reporters, "The Presidential Office did not participate in the related TF, nor was it reported to the President," and explained, "Although this issue occurred within a ministry, the President took immediate action to directly correct it."