Responsible Sellers by Region
Of 28,358 registrations of responsible sellers, 10,405 (36.7%) are registered in Seoul and 9,353 (33.0%) in Gyeonggi-do.
At the city, county and district level, Gangnam-gu, Seoul has the most, with 2,681 registrations. Korea Cosmetics Safety Information Group shows registrations of the responsible seller business (화장품책임판매업) by province and by city, county or district.
- All responsible sellers
- 28,358As of October 4, 2026
- Seoul
- 10,40536.7% of the total
- Gyeonggi-do
- 9,35333.0% of the total
- Gangnam-gu, Seoul
- 2,6819.5% of the total
Contents
- Which region has the most responsible sellers?
- How concentrated are responsible sellers in the Seoul capital area?
- Which cities, counties and districts have the most responsible sellers?
- Which districts of Seoul have the most responsible sellers?
- How does the regional distribution of responsible sellers differ from that of manufacturers?
- What does a responsible seller do?
- What should you watch for when reading responsible sellers by region figures?
- How were the responsible sellers by region figures counted?
- FAQ: responsible sellers by region
- Related reading
- Sources
Which region has the most responsible sellers?
Seoul. Of 28,358 registrations of responsible sellers, 10,405 (36.7%) are registered there. Gyeonggi-do has 9,353 registrations (33.0%), a difference of 1,052.
| Province or metropolitan city | Registrations | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Seoul | 10,405 | 36.7% |
| Gyeonggi-do | 9,353 | 33.0% |
| Incheon | 1,900 | 6.7% |
| Busan | 991 | 3.5% |
| Daegu | 651 | 2.3% |
| Chungcheongbuk-do | 646 | 2.3% |
| Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City | 614 | 2.2% |
| Chungcheongnam-do | 598 | 2.1% |
| Gyeongsangnam-do | 587 | 2.1% |
| Daejeon | 559 | 2.0% |
| Gyeongsangbuk-do | 525 | 1.9% |
| Gangwon State | 488 | 1.7% |
| Jeonbuk State | 413 | 1.5% |
| Jeju | 315 | 1.1% |
| Ulsan | 176 | 0.6% |
| Sejong | 137 | 0.5% |
| Total | 28,358 | 100.0% |
How concentrated are responsible sellers in the Seoul capital area?
76.4%. Seoul, Gyeonggi-do and Incheon hold 21,658 registrations of responsible sellers.
Outside the capital area, Busan has the most, with 991 registrations, followed by Daegu with 651 and Chungcheongbuk-do with 646.
Which cities, counties and districts have the most responsible sellers?
Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Its 2,681 registrations are 9.5% of all responsible sellers and 25.8% of the 10,405 in Seoul. That is 2.7 times the second-place area, Seocho-gu, Seoul (987).
| Rank | City, county or district | Responsible sellers | Manufacturers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gangnam-gu, Seoul | 2,681 | 36 |
| 2 | Seocho-gu, Seoul | 987 | 28 |
| 3 | Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do | 786 | 112 |
| 4 | Songpa-gu, Seoul | 728 | 31 |
| 5 | Geumcheon-gu, Seoul | 660 | 62 |
| 6 | Seongdong-gu, Seoul | 629 | 19 |
| 7 | Mapo-gu, Seoul | 613 | 25 |
| 8 | Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do | 571 | 139 |
| 9 | Gangseo-gu, Seoul | 539 | 24 |
| 10 | Namyangju-si, Gyeonggi-do | 528 | 62 |
| 11 | Yeonsu-gu, Incheon | 498 | 31 |
| 12 | Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul | 490 | 21 |
| 13 | Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi-do | 481 | 15 |
| 14 | Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do | 452 | 46 |
| 15 | Seo-gu, Incheon | 428 | 109 |
Which districts of Seoul have the most responsible sellers?
Gangnam-gu, Seocho-gu and Songpa-gu, in that order. Together the three hold 4,396 registrations of responsible sellers, 42.2% of the 10,405 in Seoul. All 25 districts of Seoul have registrations.
| District | Responsible sellers | Share within Seoul | Manufacturers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gangnam-gu | 2,681 | 25.8% | 36 |
| Seocho-gu | 987 | 9.5% | 28 |
| Songpa-gu | 728 | 7.0% | 31 |
| Geumcheon-gu | 660 | 6.3% | 62 |
| Seongdong-gu | 629 | 6.0% | 19 |
| Mapo-gu | 613 | 5.9% | 25 |
| Gangseo-gu | 539 | 5.2% | 24 |
| Yeongdeungpo-gu | 490 | 4.7% | 21 |
| Jung-gu | 329 | 3.2% | 6 |
| Guro-gu | 322 | 3.1% | 17 |
How does the regional distribution of responsible sellers differ from that of manufacturers?
The widest split is in Seoul. Its share of responsible sellers is 36.7%, while its share of the cosmetics manufacturing business (화장품제조업) is 10.6%.
- Manufacturers
- Responsible sellers
| Province or metropolitan city | Responsible seller share | Manufacturer share |
|---|---|---|
| Seoul | 36.7% | 10.6% |
| Gyeonggi-do | 33.0% | 39.9% |
| Incheon | 6.7% | 11.0% |
| Busan | 3.5% | 3.5% |
| Daegu | 2.3% | 2.8% |
| Chungcheongbuk-do | 2.3% | 5.4% |
| Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City | 2.2% | 4.2% |
| Chungcheongnam-do | 2.1% | 4.0% |
| Gyeongsangnam-do | 2.1% | 3.6% |
| Daejeon | 2.0% | 2.4% |
| Gyeongsangbuk-do | 1.9% | 3.7% |
| Gangwon State | 1.7% | 3.1% |
| Jeonbuk State | 1.5% | 2.5% |
| Jeju | 1.1% | 1.8% |
| Ulsan | 0.6% | 0.9% |
| Sejong | 0.5% | 0.6% |
Manufacturer counts by province are in Cosmetics Manufacturers by Region.
What does a responsible seller do?
A responsible seller is a business operator that distributes and sells cosmetics while managing the quality and safety of the cosmetics it handles (Article 2(11) of the Cosmetics Act, 화장품법). The business covers distributing cosmetics it made itself, cosmetics it had a manufacturer make, and imported cosmetics, as well as import-agency transactions (Article 2(2) of the Enforcement Decree of the Cosmetics Act, 화장품법 시행령).
The business can be registered without a factory, so the location is sometimes an office address. The registration list does not state what a site is used for.
What should you watch for when reading responsible sellers by region figures?
The location is the city, county or district in the registration list. It is where the responsible seller registered, not where a product was made.
A region with more registrations cannot be said to have larger sales. The registration list has no revenue or product counts.
The data does not state why registrations cluster in a particular region.
How were the responsible sellers by region figures counted?
We counted the registration list retrieved on October 4, 2026 through the cosmetics manufacturer information function of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety dataset "Cosmetics Information" on Korea's Public Data Portal. The list holds the business type, company name, registration (permit) date, and the city, county or district of the location.
- The list retrieved has 32,927 entries. Lines with the same company serial number and business type (177 entries) were counted once, leaving 32,750 entries.
- Figures count business registrations and notifications. A company registered as both a manufacturer and a responsible seller counts as 2.
- Lines whose location used a former administrative name (Jeollabuk-do 14, Jeollanam-do 18, Gangwon-do 9, Gwangju 12) were merged under the current name.
- The latest registration date is October 2, 2026. Totals and shares were calculated by Korea Cosmetics Safety Information Group by counting the list.
FAQ: responsible sellers by region
Which district has the most responsible sellers?
Gangnam-gu, Seoul. As of October 4, 2026, it has 2,681 registrations of responsible sellers.
Which has more responsible sellers, Seoul or Gyeonggi-do?
Seoul has 10,405 registrations, and Gyeonggi-do has 9,353 registrations.
Is a responsible seller's location where the product was made?
No. It is the location the responsible seller registered, and a manufacturer in another region may have handled the manufacturing. The manufacturer's trade name and address on the product packaging must be checked separately.
Do responsible sellers include online sellers?
Article 2 of the Enforcement Decree of the Cosmetics Act places in the responsible seller business the brokering or supplying of cosmetics for import-agency transactions conducted through e-commerce. That article alone does not settle whether retail resale of cosmetics already in distribution requires registration.
Where outside the Seoul capital area are responsible sellers most numerous?
Busan. It has 991 registrations, 3.5% of the total.
Sources
- Ministry of Food and Drug Safety: Cosmetics Information dataset Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) · Public Data Portal open API · page in Korean · retrieved oct 4, 2026
- MFDS Nedrug company search Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) · Integrated drug information system · page in Korean
- Cosmetics Act Ministry of Government Legislation · National Law Information Center · in force April 2, 2026 · page in Korean
- Enforcement Decree of the Cosmetics Act Ministry of Government Legislation · National Law Information Center · in force April 2, 2026 · page in Korean
Figures are counts of the registration list in the first source, taken on the retrieval date. The current status of each company can be searched on MFDS Nedrug.