August 1, 2025
SEOUL – The global success of “KPop Demon Hunters,” an animated film released on Netflix in June, has provided an unexpected boost to Korea’s soft power. The film, in which a fictional K-pop girl group battles demons with music-infused powers, has topped streaming charts in over 30 countries and propelled its soundtrack to second place on the Billboard 200.
But perhaps more telling than the film’s entertainment value is what it revealed about Korea’s export potential and its limitations. While fans from Singapore to the Netherlands eagerly bought Korean goods tied to the movie’s characters — from folk-art-inspired souvenirs to traditional accessories — the process of buying those products was anything but smooth.
Korean cultural products may now command a powerful emotional pull globally, but the infrastructure for overseas consumers to access Korean products, especially through e-commerce, remains strikingly inadequate.
According to the Bank of Korea, South Korea’s cross-border e-commerce exports to individual consumers overseas — often referred to in Korea as “reverse direct purchases” or “yeok-jikgu” in Korean — totaled 1.6 trillion won ($1.1 billion) last year. It was just one-fifth the volume of inbound direct purchases by Korean consumers from overseas retailers.
The data shows that Korea’s e-commerce platforms have failed to capitalize on foreign demand despite the surging popularity of Korean entertainment, beauty and food.
Much of the problem lies in unnecessary procedural bottlenecks. Most domestic platforms still require identity verification through a Korea-registered mobile number, even though no legal obligation mandates this.
International consumers, even if motivated to purchase, are routinely blocked during the sign-up process. Those who clear that hurdle often encounter another at checkout, where many Korean sites do not accept international payment methods like Visa, Mastercard, PayPal or Alipay. The result is a highly restrictive system that effectively turns away willing customers.
By contrast, major platforms like Amazon, AliExpress and Temu allow foreign users to register and pay with minimal friction. These companies conduct their own verification using standard card information or global e-wallets, lowering entry barriers while managing fraud risks internally.
Chinese e-commerce platforms operating in South Korea have even integrated domestic systems such as Naver Pay to localize their offerings. Yet Korean platforms have been reluctant to reciprocate even as global demand for Korean goods rises.
This hesitation reflects both rigid regulatory constraints and an outdated culture of risk aversion, especially around identity theft, fraud and payment disputes. But technological solutions already exist. Viable steps Korean retailers can take include integrating payment systems that are popular in target markets, adopting user-friendly authentication procedures and expanding their overseas fulfillment capabilities.
The Korean government and regulators have a critical role to play. The Bank of Korea’s recent recommendation — to simplify account verification, provide legal clarity around non-Korean sign-ups and actively embrace global payment tools — is a necessary starting point.
More broadly, failure to liberalize South Korea’s e-commerce model may deepen the structural imbalance in digital trade. As global commerce increasingly revolves around platforms rather than physical intermediaries, the country cannot afford to remain digitally insular.
Ironically, the very appeal of “KPop Demon Hunters” — its seamless fusion of traditional Korean motifs with contemporary music and lively animation — highlights what the country does best: Marrying heritage and innovation in ways that resonate globally. But turning cultural capital into economic return will require an equally imaginative overhaul of Korea’s digital marketplace.
Nearly a decade after the so-called “Cheon Song-yi coat” moment, when a Korean drama ignited global fashion interest and prompted calls for easier reverse purchases, progress has been woefully limited. The nation’s major platforms still operate largely as if their only customers are local. That must change. With global attention now fixed on Korean products, the least the country can do is avoid shutting the door on K-culture’s global rise.