Seoul: South Korea's antitrust regulator announced that it has imposed a fine of nearly 2.1 billion won (US$1.5 million) on Chinese e-commerce giant AliExpress. The penalty was issued due to the platform's deceptive practices involving false discount rates for products advertised on its online marketplace.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) imposed the fine on AliExpress for violating the act concerning fair labeling and advertising. The action includes not only the financial penalty but also an order for AliExpress to implement corrective measures. The investigation revealed that two subsidiaries of AliExpress had posted misleading advertisements on more than 7,500 occasions targeting South Korean consumers between May 2023 and October 2024.

The FTC's findings showed that AliExpress listed prices for products at inflated original prices, which were never offered, then claimed to provide significant discounts from those prices. For example, a tablet PC advertised with an original price of 660,000 won was actually sold for 270,000 won, presenting a deceptive discount of 58 percent.

The misleading conduct by AliExpress led to "consumer misperception" regarding the actual price and discount rates of the products, as stated by the FTC. This practice was noted to potentially "distort reasonable purchasing choice" by exaggerating the perceived economic benefits from the purchases made by consumers.

In addition to the larger fine, the watchdog imposed an additional 2 million-won penalty on AliExpress for failing to disclose its operators' personal information and its terms and conditions on its website, further breaching transparency requirements.