As K-pop supergroup BTS returns from a four-year hiatus with its fifth album, “Arirang,” unauthorized merchandise has begun appearing on Chinese e-commerce platforms, a professor has said.
Seo Kyung-duk, a professor at Sungshin Women’s University, said via social media that he had received multiple reports from internet users regarding the issue.
After checking the claims, Seo said he found that major Chinese platforms including Taobao and AliExpress were selling T-shirts and accessories featuring the “Arirang” logo.
“The most serious issue is the sale of products that use BTS members’ likenesses without permission,” Seo said. “Even if these platforms did not produce the goods themselves and merely serve as marketplaces, it is clearly problematic to allow the exposure and sale of counterfeit items.”
Seo also pointed out that similar controversies emerged during the global popularity of Netflix’s “Squid Game,” when pirated merchandise was widely circulated in China.
At the time, foreign media, including the South China Morning Post, reported that some of the most popular “Squid Game”-related items sold on Korean e-commerce platform Coupang were supplied by companies based in Chinese cities such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen, as well as Anhui Province.
“It is unacceptable that, beyond illegal streaming, unauthorized merchandise is being produced for profit,” Seo wrote on Instagram. “The act of ‘stealing’ content from other countries must stop.”
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