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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Paul Lee] A clothing brand store in South Korea—widely considered a must-visit shopping destination for tourists—has drawn strong criticism after a staff member’s alleged inappropriate response to a foreign customer was shared online.
According to the YouTube channel Yeodano, which has about 460,000 subscribers, a Chinese man identified as A visited a clothing brand store with his Korean girlfriend and experienced what he described as unreasonable treatment during the shopping process.
After selecting an item, A reportedly said he would purchase it in XXL size. A store employee asked, “One size larger?” and then told him to go back and find the item himself, saying, “It’s hanging there, so please go and look for it again.”
In another incident, after choosing a white garment, A requested a new item rather than the display piece. The employee responded by asking, “What’s the reason?”
When A appeared confused and replied, “Pardon?”, the employee reportedly said that the item on display was the same as a new one and that they needed to know the reason before bringing a new piece from storage.
The situation reportedly changed only after A’s Korean girlfriend intervened, at which point the employee said the warehouse was located in the basement and brought the item.
As criticism mounted online, the clothing brand Musinsa—where the incident occurred—issued an apology in the comment section of the video.
Using its official YouTube account, Musinsa said, “We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused to the customer during the service provided by our store crew.”
The company added that it would strengthen employee training to provide a better shopping experience for customers visiting its stores.
“We once again apologize for the unfriendly response and will strive to provide improved service,” the company said.
Some online commenters criticized the incident, noting that the store is located in an area frequently visited by foreign tourists.
“This kind of response harms not only the brand but also the country’s image,” one commenter wrote, calling for not only an apology but also staff retraining and broader improvements to service systems.
Meanwhile, demand from global customers at Musinsa Standard stores has been rising sharply. Last year, sales from foreign customers at Musinsa Standard stores in South Korea surpassed 15 billion won.
The share of foreign customer sales by store was highest at the Myeong-dong location (55%), followed by Hannam (44%), Seongsu (42%), Hongdae (40%) and Gangnam (15%).
By nationality, Chinese customers accounted for the largest share of purchases at 19%, followed by Taiwanese (18%), Japanese (13%), Americans (12%) and Singaporeans (6%).
Alphabiz Reporter Paul Lee(hoondork1977@alphabiz.co.kr)
