MANY CHINESE PRODUCTS SELLING AS LOCAL BRANDS IN KOREAN MARKET.

SEOUL, Jan 2 Asia Pulse - Domestic consumers are required to be cautious in purchasing home appliances and garments, as more than a few Chinese-made products are disguised as locally-made ones.

Traditional markets such as Namdaemun and Dongdaemun Markets and Yongsan electronics shopping malls are flooded with cheap Chinese-made products.

The problem is many of them do not carry country of origin labels, although they are manufactured in China on an Original Equipment Manufacture (OEM) basis. Some unscrupulous traders take unfair profits by selling them as locally-made ones.

In case of Dongdaemun Market, more than 70 per cent of knitwear and jumpers and about 40 per cent of footwear and accessories are believed to have been made in China.

However, most of them are on sale without origin labels and at prices similar to those of their Korean counterparts.

"In terms of price, domestic garments and sundries are more expensive by 50 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively, than Chinese-made ones," a trader said.

Under the current customs regulations, it is obligatory to attach to imported products labels revealing their origin.