Gov't leads fight against fake Korean brands

A Mumuso store in Vietnam / Yonhap

By Jung Min-ho

The government is leading the fight against fake Korean brands, which have thrived in recent years.

In its latest notice on Facebook, the South Korean Embassy in Guatemala made it clear that Mumuso, a Chinese retailer, was not a Korean company and Guatemalans should not be confused.

“Mumuso has opened its stores at four major malls in Guatemala City and Mixco ― Portales, Naranjo, Oakland and Miraflores ― and they pretend to be selling Korean products. However, Mumuso is not a Korean company and its products are not from Korea,” the Embassy said in a statement (Spanish and Korean) Saturday (local time).

"Mumuso uses many Korean words and marks to give a false impression that it's from Korea, but its headquarters is in China and almost all its products are made in China."

Along with Ilahui and Mini Good, Mumuso is among Chinese copycat businesses popping up across Asia and beyond. Their main targets are countries where Korean culture is popular.

This is the ministry's first official response to Mumuso. Many Korean companies are increasingly concerned that low-quality fake Korean brands will tarnish their reputations.

Mumuso claims to be a Korean company, saying it has a trademark registration issued by the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) in 2015.

But a KIPO official recently told The Korea Times that “getting certification here does not mean the firm is Korean.” He gave the example of Apple, an American company that also has certification here.

“The certificate is nothing but part of a business strategy to make Mumuso look like a Korean company,” the embassy said. “Please beware of the fact and share it with everyone you know.”