The rapid proliferation of Corona 19 makes it difficult to obtain masks in Korea, and it is relatively easy to buy Korean masks in China.

It is known that Korean masks are actively sold at major e-commerce sites in China such as Taobao and Timol.

If you put keywords such as 'Korean mask' or 'KF94', it is not difficult to buy a Korean mask with Korean characters on the packaging.

Our products range from children's, adult and industrial dust masks.

One dealer said in a purchase inquiry, "We are currently in stock and can be shipped by courier if you order today. You can rest assured that the mask is genuine."

The selling price is usually about RMB 150 for 5 bundles of KF94 masks.

Considering that a single KF94 mask was sold for 2,500 ~ 3,000 won in Korea before the mask shortage appeared recently, it is sold at pear prices in China.

In China, KF94 masks are frequently traded using WeCine (WeChat), a social networking service, in addition to major e-commerce sites.

Many of the Korean masks sold on the Chinese Internet are sent to China by private carriers or postal mail from Korea, called Daigou.

Masks are hard to find in China, and many Chinese people actually buy Korean masks at high prices.

Sina.com Weibo (Chinese version of Twitter) has posted a lot of inquiries, such as "I'm explained in Korean, please explain how to use" and "Is genuine," while uploading a Korean mask photo.

Recently, weibo has a hashtag, "Bought a Korean mask, please check if it is genuine."

Korean masks sold on the Chinese Internet are generally believed to have been sold to China through various channels when the spread of corona was relatively better than China.

However, there is a growing voice that the effective distribution management of masks is needed in the situation of the spread of corona 19 in Korea, especially in Daegu.

Some point out that in case of an emergency, Korea deserves reference to Taiwan's mask distribution management.

In Taiwan, where economic and human exchanges with mainland China are common, mask shortages occurred during the early days of the Corona 19 incident.

Similarly in Taiwan, the export of masks to China has become a social issue.

The Taiwan government then banned the sale of masks in convenience stores, such as convenience stores, and unified sales outlets only at pharmacies covered by the health insurance system.

Since then, Taiwan has restricted the sales per person by mandating the presentation of a health insurance card with an integrated circuit (IC) chip.

(Photo = Yonhap News)