Introduction of US Stars and Stripes and UK Union Jack
Seo Kyung-duk: "Numerous Products with Incorrect Designs"
"Managing National Symbols Is the Minimum Business Courtesy"
Many T-shirts with incorrect designs appear when searching for 'Taegukgi' on the famous Chinese shopping mall Temu. Photo by Professor Seo Kyung-deok Facebook
It has come to light that when searching for the Taegukgi (Korean national flag) on a famous Chinese e-commerce (C-commerce) platform, unrelated products are being shown. Professor Seokyung Deok from Sungshin Women's University pointed this out and urged, "Please take action as soon as possible."
On the 13th, Professor Seo opened his statement on his social media service (SNS) by saying, "There is controversy as unrelated products are introduced when searching for 'Taegukgi' or 'Korean national flag' on a famous Chinese shopping mall." He explained, "During the Samiljeol holiday period, I received many reports from netizens, and after searching on Temu and AliExpress, I found many Taegukgi designs that were incorrect."
He continued, "On Temu, many T-shirts with incorrect Geon-gon-gam-ri (the four trigrams on the Taegukgi) were found, and especially T-shirts with the Italian flag pattern unrelated to the Taegukgi and Taegukgi with cherry blossoms, the national flower of Japan, as the background were being sold." He added, "AliExpress also showed unrelated flags such as the US Stars and Stripes and the UK Union Jack when searching for the Taegukgi, and introduced unrelated products like dog blankets and solar system carpets."
When searching for 'Taegukgi' on AliExpress, unrelated products such as the US Stars and Stripes and the UK Union Jack are being displayed. Professor Seo Kyung-duk Facebook
He then said, "As you know, Temu has about 8 million monthly active Korean users, and AliExpress has over 9 million." He criticized, "Allowing incorrect designs to remain and not regulating them when searching for a country's national flag on shopping platforms visited by many people worldwide is an act of deceiving that country's consumers." Finally, he emphasized, "If a global company is doing business targeting consumers from other countries, I believe it is the minimum business etiquette to thoroughly manage the symbols of that country. I strongly request that measures be taken as soon as possible."
Meanwhile, on the 7th, Professor Seo had previously criticized a Chinese influencer who posted a video of making kimchi in a rural setting with hashtags like 'Chinese culture' and 'Chinese traditional cuisine.' At that time, he said, "The reason for promoting kimchi by using rural life is to externally emphasize that it is 'a dish that has been made and eaten in Chinese countryside for a long time.'" He added, "Do you think the world will be fooled by this? It is nothing but a foolish trick." Furthermore, he said, "As the whole world pays attention to and enjoys Korean culture, the inferiority complex of Chinese people is growing day by day," and added, "We should turn this to our advantage and spread our culture more elegantly."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
