It was confirmed on the 19th that the Fair Trade Commission conducted on-site inspections in stages this month into alleged violations of the Act on Fair Labeling and Advertising in the home beauty device industry. Beauty devices refer to devices that, through radio frequency or ultrasound functions, can deliver effects such as wrinkle improvement, whitening, and skin soothing. The Fair Trade Commission was said to have conducted the inspections to check whether these companies exaggerated online discount rates beyond the actual figures and inflated claims about the effectiveness of beauty devices in advertisements.
According to a compilation of reporting by ChosunBiz, the electronic transaction monitoring team of the market surveillance bureau at the Fair Trade Commission has since early this month sequentially conducted on-site inspections of APR Co., a cosmetics company; Dongkook Pharmaceutical, which operates the cosmetics brand "Centellian24"; and Zion Meditech, a small and midsize company with the home beauty device brand Dualsonic. The commission also began an inspection of TONYMOLY on the 18th.
APR Co. was founded in 2014 and, after listing on the KOSPI last year, drew attention by overtaking Amorepacific and LG H&H to rank No. 1 in market capitalization among domestic cosmetics companies. As of the previous day, its market capitalization was about 8.3 trillion won. The company owns cosmetics brands such as Medicube and April Skin, and it also sells a home beauty device called "Medicube Age-R."
Dongkook Pharmaceutical sells a beauty device called "Madeca Prime" through its cosmetics brand "Centellian24." Dualsonic sells beauty devices such as the "Dualsonic Maximum."
The Fair Trade Commission was said to have conducted on-site inspections to check whether these companies violated the Act on Fair Labeling and Advertising by indicating product discount rates higher than the actual figures. The authorities plan to examine whether these corporations displayed excessive discount rates compared to actual selling prices during online promotions, or advertised as if prices were drastically cut after temporarily raising them.
The Fair Trade Commission also plans to look into whether these companies exaggerated the effectiveness of beauty devices beyond the actual results. Some beauty device companies were said to have advertised that their products deliver a "lifting effect" that tightens and firms the skin by up to 236%. According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, there were 427 administrative dispositions against cosmetics business operators over the past year (the second half of 2024 to the first half of 2025), of which 324 (76%) were due to labeling and advertising violations, the largest share. The ministry has noted, "Cosmetics advertisements that tout medical-level improvement effects are frequent."
The Fair Trade Commission said, "We cannot confirm matters related to an ongoing investigation."