Korea's new dark pattern guide: what a foreign web shop should change

What the Fair Trade Commission published on 6 October

On 6 October 2026 the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) released its "Guidelines on Operating Online Interfaces to Prevent Dark Patterns" (다크패턴 방지를 위한 온라인 인터페이스 운영 가이드라인). It is not a new law. It pulls together rules that were spread across the E-Commerce Consumer Protection Act, its enforcement decree and earlier guidance, and adds concrete examples of what breaks them.

The guidelines sort dark patterns into four groups and 13 types: practices that lead to spending the shopper did not expect, practices that mislead through wording or layout, practices that make a choice harder, and practices that apply psychological pressure. For each type the KFTC gives a definition, points to watch and examples of violations, so a design team can check screens before launch rather than after a complaint.

For a brand selling to Korea, the useful part is that the guidelines show how the regulator reads the law. If your Korean site, app or subscription was built by copying a template from another market, this is the document to hold it against.

The six practices the law already bans

Article 21-2 of the Act, in force since 14 February 2025, lists five banned interface practices, and Article 13(6) adds a sixth duty for subscriptions. We read the current text on the National Law Information Center, as in force from 21 July 2026.

Two periods come from the enforcement decree. Article 20-2 sets the subscription notice window at 30 days before the increase or conversion. Article 27-2 says a business may repeat a request only if the shopper can choose not to see it again for at least 7 days.

The guidelines then spell out the cancellation point in practical terms. As reported by SBS Biz on 6 October 2026, the KFTC says an account deletion button should not be buried under menus such as personal information or security settings, and should be reachable in one click from the login screen or the My Page start screen. It also says consent to a price rise cannot be assumed just because the shopper did not refuse.

What a breach can cost

Under Article 45(4) of the Act, a business that commits any of the practices in Article 21-2(1) faces an administrative fine of up to KRW 10 million per case. Fines are not the only tool. The KFTC can also issue corrective orders, and Korean media report them by company name.

The direction of travel is also clear. In July 2026 the KFTC raised the surcharge for repeat offenders: one repeat can add up to 50% to a surcharge and four repeats up to 100%, while the discount for fixing a problem voluntarily was cut from up to 30% to up to 10% (KFTC announcement of 14 July 2026, in force 21 July 2026).

Whether a particular foreign shop falls under Korean enforcement depends on the facts, such as how it targets Korean consumers. Treat this as general information and ask a Korean lawyer if you are unsure. As a practical matter, if your site has a Korean version, takes won or ships to Korea, design it as if the Act applies.

A 30-minute check for your Korean storefront

Open your own Korean site on a phone, as a new shopper would, and go through the steps below. Do the same on your Korean marketplace listings if you have them.

1. Price. On the first screen that shows a price, is the full amount the shopper must pay visible, including any compulsory fee? If a cost cannot be known in advance, say why.
2. Checkboxes. At checkout and sign-up, is every optional box for another product, membership or newsletter unticked?
3. Buttons. Do "yes" and "no" look like real options of similar weight?
4. Leaving. Count the clicks to sign up and the clicks to cancel or delete the account. Cancelling should not take more, and it should work in the same channel.
5. Pop-ups. After a shopper says no, can they stop the same request for at least 7 days?
6. Subscriptions. Before any price rise or trial conversion, does your system ask for consent at least 30 days ahead and explain how to cancel?

It also helps to think like a Korean shopper. Korean shoppers type searches such as "회원탈퇴 방법" (how to delete my account), "구독 해지" (cancel subscription) and "자동결제 해지" (stop automatic payment), often followed by a brand name. If your Korean help page answers them clearly, you reduce complaints and give search engines a page worth showing.

Where this fits in your Korea launch

Korea has been tightening the rules for online sellers step by step. Since 21 July 2026, shops that publish reviews must also explain how reviews are collected and handled, and large overseas sellers will need a domestic representative from 21 January 2027. The dark pattern guidelines are part of the same push toward clear, fair online selling.

None of this needs a big budget. Most fixes are copy and layout changes that a developer can make in a day. The hard part is spotting them in a language your team may not read. At HB Crossborder we look at Korean storefronts from the shopper's side, so ask for a free visibility check if you want a second pair of eyes on your Korean pages. It arrives the same day or the next morning.