ORIGIN DETECTIVE · Price Detective

Origin Detective

Where was this really made?

We trace the production path behind one “Made in” line — raw materials, parts, processing, assembly, legal origin and brand country, each separately; layers without public evidence stay blank.

Does assembly make it Korean?All price detectives한국어

AFFORDABILITY BOTTLENECK

One “Made in” line does not tell the production path; not knowing what you pay for is a bottleneck too — information.

Bottleneck examined: Information

What a price bottleneck is · Who made this price — a case is labelled only with evidence.

Legal origin ≠ supply chain ≠ brand nationality

Origin is where goods were obtained, produced or processed — not the brand’s or investor’s nationality. With several countries, the last one to substantially transform the goods is the origin; simple processing does not count (trade act decree art. 61). A Korean brand can be made in Thailand; “Made in Italy” can involve foreign fibre and several subcontract tiers.

PRODUCTION ORIGIN STACK

Eight layers of one product

  1. 01 Brand countryWhose name is on it?
  2. 02 DesignWho designed it?
  3. 03 Raw materialWhere did inputs come from?
  4. 04 ComponentsWhere were parts made?
  5. 05 ProcessingWhere did it become this product?
  6. 06 AssemblyWhere was it assembled?
  7. 07 Legal originThe country the law requires on the label
  8. 08 Shipped fromWhere was it shipped from?

A device branded and designed in Korea, with Chinese battery and PCB, a Vietnamese display and Korean assembly, could legally be Korean, Chinese or undetermined — it depends on the rule applied.

MADE IN KOREA?

Chinese parts assembled in Korea — Korean?

Domestic share = (manufacturing cost − CIF of imported inputs) ÷ manufacturing cost; manufacturing cost excludes profit and selling/admin costs.

대외무역관리규정 제86조②

Not enough information to read the rule

Assembly in Korea alone does not decide it either way. The values below are needed; an official ruling can be requested from the trade ministry, answered in writing within 60 days (decree art. 62).

Marked as: Unknown

  • Whether the 6-digit HS code changes from inputs to product
  • Domestic share: (manufacturing cost − CIF of imported inputs) ÷ manufacturing cost

A reading aid for the rule, not a ruling on any product. Some goods have special value-added or key-part rules (annex 9); exports may follow the importing country’s rules, and FTA preferential origin differs by agreement.

LABEL DECODER

What label phrases actually mean

Made in Korea · Product of Korea · Country of Origin: Korea · 원산지: 대한민국 ORIGIN MARK
Standard origin marks (art. 76①). They state legal origin, not that every input came from there.
Made by (회사명, 주소, 국명) ORIGIN MARK
An origin mark naming the maker and country.
Designed in · Styled in · Licensed by · Finished in NOT AN ORIGIN
Supplementary marks used alongside an origin mark (art. 76-2②) — not an origin on their own; misleading use can count as an origin misrepresentation.
조립국: 한국 / 가공국: 한국 (+ 부품의 원산지) CONDITIONAL
Used when a Korean-made product misses the origin test (art. 86⑤); input origins must appear equally.
Organized in (부분품별 원산지) CONDITIONAL
For simple assembly of main parts in the exporting country (art. 76-2③).
Mixed in (원재료별 원산지) CONDITIONAL
For simple mixtures of raw materials.
Imported from NOT AN ORIGIN
For used goods whose origin cannot be determined — the shipping country, not the origin.
USA · Swiss · Holland · UK / GB ORIGIN MARK
Common names allowed where no confusion arises (art. 76⑥).
Made in P.R.C. · CN CAUTION
Not on art. 76⑥’s list of accepted short names; origin must be easy for buyers to read, so the full name ("Made in China") is the rule unless customs accepts otherwise. We could not read the customs notice’s annex of improper-marking examples directly.
Made in EU CAUTION
Per Korea Customs, regional unions such as the EU are not origins; separate customs territories such as Hong Kong can be.
브랜드 국가 표시가 큰 OEM 수입품 NOT AN ORIGIN
When the brand’s country differs from origin and could mislead, origin must go on the front or next to the misleading mark (art. 77).

“Assembled in” is not a fixed phrase in Korean rules; the rule is “assembly country: Korea” plus component origins.

CASES

Cases

FOOD

Food: ingredient origins are separate

Processed food made in Korea lists ingredient origins by recipe share: the one ingredient at 98%+, the top two if two make 98%+, otherwise the top three; kimchi adds chilli powder and salt to its top two. If an ingredient is in the product name, its origin must be shown too.

Kimchi example

VALUE CREATION MAP

Where was the value created?

What shoppers often want is not one country but where their money went — fibre, fabric, trims, sewing, brand, retail. That needs real cost data; we show shares only when published. None of the current cases has it.

ORIGIN PREMIUM

What is “Made in Italy” worth to the buyer?

The price gap buyers accept for “Made in Italy” versus “Made in China” on the same product can be called an origin premium. Measuring it needs matched products or survey/experimental data, so we do not publish a number yet.

PRICE DETECTIVE

Same product, other angles

What did it cost to make?Cost DetectiveWho added what between factory and shelf?Distribution Detective
How has this price changed?Inflation Detective · not built yet
Is this discount real?Discount Detective
Is it worth this price?Value Detective · not built yet
How much did the hype add?Hype DetectiveWhat does it cost abroad?Hogu IndexWhere did the tax money go?Tax DetectiveHow much reached the people who did the work?Wage DetectiveWhat is actually inside?Ingredient Detective (food & drinks)Where does my data leak, and who profits?Privacy Detective
Which rules shaped this price?Regulation Detective · not built yet

One luxury bag: origin → cost → distribution → value → prices abroad.

INSIDER REPORT

Report a real factory or source

Manufacturing, import and retail staff can report the real factory or country, input sources, or PB/OEM terms. We do not collect names, contacts or files, and never publish who reported. Published values are labelled “industry reported” with a confidence level.

Evidence you could show (we may ask later, with personal data and trade secrets removed)

Review: received → anonymised → evidence checked → cross-checked with public data → confidence set → published. A report alone is never published as fact.

SOURCES

Rule sources

Not legal advice; confirm with Korea Customs (125) or request a ministry origin ruling.