Seoul: South Korea's standard agency announced plans to enhance safety surveillance of products sold on overseas shopping platforms amid an increase in direct purchases by local consumers.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the initiative will involve monitoring the safety of 1,000 products sold on major overseas platforms this year, a significant increase from the 400 products evaluated in 2024.

The Korean Agency for Technology and Standard stated that if a product is found to be hazardous through testing, the government will implement precautionary measures, such as requesting platform operators to remove the product from their listings. Additionally, efforts will be made to prevent the import of products that have been recalled in overseas markets. The agency highlighted a particular focus on monitoring products intended for children and seniors.

A separate report from Statistics Korea revealed that the total value of online direct purchases from overseas increased by 25.6 percent from the previous year, reaching 2.15 trillion won (US$1.47 billion) in the April-June period of 2024. This figure marked the highest quarterly amount since the agency began compiling such data in 2014.

In addition to overseas products, the government plans to assess the safety of 4,700 products sold on domestic shopping platforms, as stated by the agency.