Fair Trade Law Q&A - False or Misleading Advertising

The Fair Trade Commission is responsible for investigating and handling unfair competition practices, including false or misleading advertising. When the Commission receives information indicating that an advertisement may be false or misleading, it will investigate and handle the matter within the scope of its statutory authority. If a violation is found, the FTC will impose appropriate sanctions in accordance with the law in order to maintain fair market order and protect consumer interests. The domestic regulations governing false or misleading advertising are also found in laws and regulations administered by various competent authorities. These authorities work together within their respective jurisdictions to combat unlawful conduct and protect the public. The following types of cases are generally referred by the Commission to the competent authorities listed below:

	Type of Cases	Competent Authority
1	Advertisements of goods or services claiming, implying, or suggesting medical efficacy	Ministry of Health and Welfare
2	Labeling and advertising of food, health foods, dairy products, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals	Ministry of Health and Welfare
3	Medical advertisements	Ministry of Health and Welfare
4	Advertisements relating to human organ banks	Ministry of Health and Welfare
5	Labeling of general commodities	Ministry of Economic Affairs
6	Labeling relating to the sale of seeds and seedlings	Ministry of Agriculture
7	Labeling and advertising of pesticides, fertilizers, animal feed, breeding livestock and poultry, genetic resources, veterinary drugs, and pet food	Ministry of Agriculture
8	Labeling of agricultural products at the wholesale market stage, labeling of packaged rice sold on the market, traceable agricultural product labeling, and labeling and advertising of organic foods	Ministry of Agriculture
9	Advertising of agricultural products, labeling of agricultural products at the retail market stage, and advertising of packaged rice sold on the market	Ministry of Health and Welfare
10	Advertisements published by veterinarians in connection with their professional practice	Ministry of Agriculture
11	Labeling of tobacco and alcohol products and advertising of alcoholic beverages	National Treasury Administration, Ministry of Finance
12	Advertisements of registered cram schools	Education authorities of special municipalities, counties, or cities
13	False or misleading advertisements relating to job placement services or employee recruitment	Ministry of Labor
14	False or misleading recruitment advertisements or brochures issued by vocational training institutions	Ministry of Labor
15	Travel service advertisements	Tourism Administration, Ministry of Transportation and Communications,
16	False or misleading advertisements by stock exchanges or future trading businesses	Financial Supervisory Commission
17	Advertisements creating the false impression that a person is a certified public accountant without legally obtaining CPA qualifications	Financial Supervisory Commission
18	Advertisements involving affairs governed by financial laws and regulations	Financial Supervisory Commission
19	Immigration service advertisements	Ministry of the Interior
20	Real estate brokerage advertisements falling within the scope of the Real Estate Brokerage Management Act	Ministry of the Interior
21	Cross-border marriage matchmaking advertisements	Ministry of the Interior
22	Other matters that, pursuant to coordination between the Fair Trade Commission and other administrative agencies, or under the principle that a special law prevails over a general law, should be handled first by another competent authority	Other competent authorities