TikTok lowers entry barrier for Korean sellers to enter US market

A TikTok official gives presentation during the company's business seminar in southern Seoul, Thursday. Courtesy of TikTok Korea

Short-form video platform TikTok introduced a new solution that lowers hurdles for Korean companies to enter TikTok Shop for the United States market, the company said Friday.

During its business seminar Thursday, TikTok introduced its new "Korea-US Cross-Border" solution, which allows Korean businesses to enter the U.S. TikTok Shop using only their Korean corporate entity.

Previously, in order to enter the U.S. TikTok Shop, vendors were required to meet complex requirements, including having a corporate entity, bank account and address within the U.S. With the new solution, Korean companies can now join the shop with a Korean business entity, a Korean passport, a Korean address, a virtual bank account and access to a third-party logistics service that can operate in the U.S.

"Allowing Korean businesses to onboard the U.S. TikTok Shop without a local entity is a pivotal moment that accelerates local brands’ global expansion," General Manager of Global Business Solutions at TikTok Korea Matty Lin said.

“TikTok Shop aims to go beyond being just a sales channel by offering a comprehensive e-commerce solution encompassing advertising, content and logistics.”

TikTok Shop has been expanding rapidly worldwide, particularly in the U.S. and Southeast Asia, driven by the short-form service’s over 1 billion global users contributing to brand exposure on the platform. The number of vendors on the platform grew by 60 percent in just a year, from 700,000 in 2023 to 1.1 million in 2024.

Thursday’s seminar featured TikTok Shop's latest trends, onboarding and operating strategies and global vendors’ success cases, as well as one-on-one consulting with experts to the potential local entities.

TikTok will officially begin expanding Korean entries to the U.S. TikTok Shop starting May 30 and plans to provide support programs, such as offering promotional benefits to newly joined brands within the next 30 days.