For founders of beauty and fragrance brands in Korea
The name on the label is the one MFDS holds to account.
In Korea, the factory that fills your jar is not the company the law makes answer for it once it is on sale. Whoever sells it under their own name must register first, and must have a qualified manager on the books. Own Label works out which registration your plan needs and whether you can be that manager yourself. It runs in your browser and keeps nothing.
Worked exampleCase A
A hand cream made by an OEM in Chungcheong, sold on Smart Store by a company of two.
- Responsible Cosmetic DistributorAct art. 3(1)
- Mail-order reportE-Commerce Act art. 12(1)
- Manager: the founder herself, with two years in a QC labRule art. 8(1) item 4, 8(3)
Three things founders learn too late
The factory’s licence is not yours.
Your OEM is registered as a manufacturer. Selling its product under your brand is a different business, the Responsible Cosmetic Distributor, and MFDS said so in plain terms to a founder who asked in February 2026.
MFDS interpretation of 24 Feb 2026
Decanting is a licensed trade.
Pouring a 100 ml perfume into 5 ml vials to sell makes a customised cosmetic. It needs a reported shop and a certified mixer, and you may not pre-fill vials for stock without asking the customer first.
Act art. 2 item 3-2; MFDS interpretation of 24 Apr 2026
The manager can be you.
With ten or fewer regular employees, a qualified representative can do the Responsible Sales Manager’s job. A degree is one route, not the only one: two years in cosmetics manufacturing or quality control, or passing the certified-mixer exam, also qualify.
Rule art. 8(1)(3); MFDS interpretation of 22 Jul 2024
Where this stops
Own Label covers the business registration, not the product. Functional-cosmetic review (whitening, anti-wrinkle, sunscreen and the rest), the Korean label itself, ingredient limits and the facility standards for a plant are separate subjects, and we leave them out rather than squeeze them in.