Sourcing China Guides Korean Firms From Factory Search to Customs

* Editor's note: AI PRISM (Personalized Report & Insight Summarizing Media) is an artificial intelligence-based personalized news recommendation and summary service developed with support from the Korea Press Foundation. It selects and provides six news items tailored to each reader type.

1. "Systematizing Sourcing and Shipping Processes...We Will Become a Full-Stack Partner for China Business"

- Key summary: Lee Hong-mae, chief executive of Sourcing China, said in an interview with The Seoul Economic Daily on the 6th that the company was founded in 2020 to resolve the difficulties of sourcing on the ground in China. Sourcing China supports the entire process, from finding suppliers to price negotiations, quality inspection, logistics and customs clearance. That is what sets it apart from other firms that help with China sourcing. The company also built its own application programming interface (API) to link its official website with 1688, China's largest business-to-business (B2B) platform, streamlining the ordering process for clients. It operates a local branch in Yiwu, China's largest wholesale market, and has obtained ISO 9001 quality management system certification. One client that has worked with the company since its early days has grown into a business with annual revenue of more than 10 billion won.

2. "AI Instead of Human Eyes to Spot Defects"...Korea Alps Overhauls Its Inspection System

- Key summary: Korea Alps, founded in 1987, is pushing an artificial intelligence transformation (AX) that replaces sensory inspection dependent on the human senses with AI. The company, which makes automotive electronics and electrical and electronic components, runs about 300 production lines, but final inspection is still done by people, and 40% of its shop-floor workers are assigned to inspection. The false-defect rate, in which normal products are judged defective, reached 5%, costing an average of 5 million won a month to process, and the company aims to cut that rate below 0.33% with AI vision inspection. It also plans to add three more autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) at its roughly 46,000-square-meter plant by next year and to apply AI vision inspection to half of all equipment by 2028.

3. Recommending Appliances and Handling Consultations: Samsung's "AI Sales Champion" at IFA

- Key summary: Samsung Electronics unveiled an AI promoter that understands shoppers' questions and compares and recommends products at IFA 2026, Europe's largest home appliance show, held in Berlin. Based on a large language model (LLM), the AI promoter grasps the intent of a question and then continues the conversation using product information. If a shopper speaking English asks for an explanation in Korean, it switches languages immediately. Choi Sung-min, who oversees CE retail at Samsung Electronics' German unit, said the company is testing a prototype with a European market launch in mind. LG Electronics (066570) said at a press briefing at the same event that it is moving in earnest to win orders for robot components beyond home appliances, and plans to establish mass production of LG Axium, its actuator brand for robots, within the year.

4. Searching for Gmarket Products on ChatGPT: First Plug-In Service Among Open Markets

- Key summary: Gmarket is introducing the Gmarket ChatGPT Plug-In, a service that lets shoppers search for and receive product recommendations on ChatGPT, the first among domestic open-market platforms. Customers can find the products they want and move on to purchase entirely through a ChatGPT conversation, without visiting the Gmarket app or website. Even without knowing an exact product name or search term, shoppers can describe their purpose, how they plan to use the item and the conditions they want, and receive matching recommendations. Gmarket plans to draw on the strength of an open market spanning wide-ranging categories, including digital and home appliances, fashion and beauty, groceries and food, and living and leisure, to serve many different kinds of shopping.

5. From Russia to North America and Europe: Aekyung Industrial Courts Hair-Loss Shoppers

- Key summary: Aekyung Industrial is moving to expand hair care revenue with brands including Black Forest, which specializes in hair loss. Jeon Hyun-jung, head of Aekyung Industrial's hair care business division, said at a press briefing in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, on the 4th that the goal is to raise hair care's share of company revenue to about 25% next year from around 20% now. Aekyung Industrial, acquired by Taekwang Group in March this year, has created skin care and hair care business divisions, shifting a portfolio long centered on household goods. Jeon said that as the hair care brands expanded overseas, global sales came to account for more than half of total revenue, adding that the company pursued country-specific strategies, launching Homme products for men in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and products drawing on Korean characteristics in the Americas and Europe.

6. Olive Young Pushes Olive Better With First Combined Store in Anseong

- Key summary: CJ Olive Young has unveiled its first combined store bringing together Olive Young and Olive Better, its wellness-focused platform. Olive Young opened the store, which houses both brands in one space, at Starfield Anseong in Gyeonggi Province on the 30th of last month, relocating and expanding an existing standalone store of about 63 pyeong to a total of roughly 233 pyeong. The Olive Young section places personal care items such as hair care and body care at the front, while the Olive Better section has added a new range of kids' products, including kids' pajamas, kids' oral care items and healthy snacks. Olive Better opened its first store in Gwanghwamun in January this year and a Gangnam store in April, and its product count has grown from about 13,000 at launch to 20,000 now, with plans to expand to 10 stores centered on Seoul and the surrounding metropolitan area within the year.