Korean Cosmetics Company FAQ
Korea Cosmetics Safety Information Group answers 11 common questions on the number of cosmetics companies, their regions, package labels and registration checks. Each answer leads to the data page or guide behind it.
Contents
Number of cosmetics companies
How many cosmetics companies are there in South Korea?
As of October 4, 2026, the list holds 32,750 entries of registered or notified cosmetics businesses: 28,358 registrations of responsible sellers (화장품책임판매업), 4,157 registrations of manufacturers (화장품제조업) and 235 notifications of customized cosmetics sellers (맞춤형화장품판매업). Grouped by business registration number, that is 28,860 business registration numbers.
How many more responsible sellers are there than manufacturers?
6.8 times as many: 28,358 registrations of responsible sellers divided by 4,157 registrations of manufacturers.
Were many cosmetics companies registered recently?
18,459 entries, or 56.4% of the current list, were registered in 2022 or later. Businesses that closed are not in the list, so recent years come out higher.
Cosmetics companies by region
Which region has the most cosmetics manufacturers?
Gyeonggi-do. It holds 1,658 of the 4,157 registrations of manufacturers (39.9%). At the city, county and district level, Namdong-gu, Incheon has 203.
Which region has the most responsible sellers?
Seoul. It holds 10,405 of the 28,358 registrations of responsible sellers (36.7%), and Gangnam-gu, Seoul alone has 2,681.
Labels and company checks
Which company name appears on cosmetics packaging?
Article 10(1) of the Cosmetics Act (화장품법) requires the business operator's trade name and address on the outer packaging. Business operator means a manufacturer, a responsible seller or a customized cosmetics seller (Article 5(8)).
Where can I check whether a cosmetics company is registered?
On the company search of MFDS Nedrug, a Korean-language site: choose manufacturing, responsible selling or customized cosmetics selling as the business type and search by company name. The result shows the company name, business type, permit date and address.
Are cosmetics from a registered company safe?
Registration means that a person intending to run the business completed the procedure set by the Cosmetics Act. It does not guarantee the safety of any individual product. The registration data used by Korea Cosmetics Safety Information Group holds no product information or record of administrative sanctions.
Data and this site
Where do the figures on Korea Cosmetics Safety Information Group come from?
From the cosmetics manufacturer information in the dataset "Cosmetics Information", which the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety publishes on Korea's Public Data Portal. Every page carries the name and address of its source.
Are the figures live?
No. Korea Cosmetics Safety Information Group does not call the public API on each visit. It stores the list retrieved on October 4, 2026. When the list is retrieved again, the date on each page changes with it.
Does Korea Cosmetics Safety Information Group recommend cosmetics or companies?
No. There are no ads, affiliate links or product sales. Korea Cosmetics Safety Information Group publishes only the figures in public registration data and the content of the law.