BUSAN — Busan is launching stepped-up legal action against false and exaggerated advertising and illegal distribution of drugs, medical devices and cosmetics spreading through online shopping malls and social media. The city said deceptive sales tactics that cloud consumer judgment have reached a level that threatens residents' health.
The city will conduct a focused investigation for three months, from October through the end of December, into illegal distribution and false or exaggerated advertising of drugs, medical devices, cosmetics and hygiene products on online shopping malls and social media. The central aim of the probe is to restore order in the market by cracking down on violations that exploit gaps in digital distribution channels.
Targets include false or overstated claims about the efficacy of drugs, sales of unapproved or unregistered medical devices and false claims about their performance, deceptive advertising that leads consumers to mistake ordinary cosmetics for medicines, and false labeling of the ingredients or intended use of hygiene products, along with other labeling violations.
The city will apply a zero-tolerance policy to businesses found in violation, including criminal referrals. False or exaggerated advertising involving medical devices carries up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 30 million won ($22,000), while violations involving drugs, cosmetics and hygiene products are subject to criminal penalties of up to one year in prison or a fine of up to 10 million won ($7,200) under the relevant laws.
The city's special judicial police division plans to operate a tip line for residents, centered on its public hygiene investigation team, and to further strengthen its online monitoring system to make the investigation more effective.
"We will do our best to create a sound distribution and sales environment by actively cracking down on illegal advertising and sales online, so that residents can buy drugs and other products with confidence," an official at the special judicial police division said.
