Korean consumers pay over 50 percent more on average for products of major foreign outdoor brands, a civic organization said Tuesday.
According to the research by Seoul's Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), local retail prices of 23 functional outdoor products offered by five brands -- The North Face, Arcteryx, Mammut, MontBell and Columbia -- turned out to be higher by an average of 56 percent on their official online stores for South Korea than on the sites for other countries.
Three kinds of Gore-Tex shoes are up to 96.8 percent more expensive here, while five kinds of Gore-Tex outfits cost South Korean consumers up to 89.3 percent more, the YMCA added.
The comparison calculations were based on Tuesday's exchange rate, according to the YMCA.
"Pricing of the foreign outdoor brands here is too high, setting aside controversy over the quality of their products," an official of the organization said. "The companies should come up with reasonable pricing policies, while consumers need to make wise decisions in buying those products."
Refuting the YMCA data, the North Face Korea said, "The prices offered on the Web site of the United States do not include tax so such a comparison is unfair."
South Korea's market for outdoor clothing for mountain climbing, sports and other uses has been growing fast as health-conscious people are getting more interested in diverse leisure activities.
According to industry data, the sales of such outdoor clothing reached about 4 trillion won ($3.6 billion) last year. (Yonhap)