Furniture-maker Ikea is facing public outcry over its refusal to recall dressers that have been linked to six deaths in North America from its Korean stores, despite recalling the line from its stores in the U.S. and Canada.

The problematic Malm dressers are still available for purchase in Korean Ikea stores. Roughly 40,000 of them have been sold in Korea since they were first released in December 2014.


The dressers must be firmly attached to the wall before being used to prevent them from tipping over and potentially harming children standing in front of them.

However, many consumers use the dressers without anchoring them because it is difficult to drill into certain types of walls.

When the Korean Consumer Agency began an investigation into concerns over the dressers, Ikea offered to refund all dressers that were brought back to its stores, but stopped short of recalling them. 

The company is also facing backlash for failing to actively reach out to consumers who had already bought the product to reiterate the dangers linked to using the dressers without anchoring them, and to tell them about the refund policy.

Ikea currently includes warnings about the potential dangers of using furniture without securing them on signs posted in its stores and on assembly instructions included with its products.

Detailed instructions for securing the dressers to walls, as well as instructions on how to seek help installing the furniture or receiving refunds, are posted on the company’s Korean website through a small banner at the bottom of the page.

This response from Ikea stands in contrast to the policies of its Korean rival Hanssem, which automatically refunds dressers similar to the Malm dressers if they cannot be anchored to walls in consumers’ homes. Unlike Ikea, whose furniture is assembled and installed by consumers themselves, Hanssem sends employees to consumers’ homes to assemble and install their products.

Ikea is currently fielding similar complaints about recall in China, where local media have raised questions about why the dressers were only recalled in North America. In China, Ikea has also offered free anchoring kits and refunds to consumers who voluntarily return the product to its stores.

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)