tradeKorea Conditions of Use

Welcome to this website established and run by Korea International Trade Association (“KITA”) to support online international marketing and trade (“tradeKorea Website”). tradeKorea Website provides services to support online international marketing and trade (“Services”) according to the following Conditions of Use (“Conditions of Use”). Please read the Conditions of Use carefully as they may include provisions imposing legal obligations.

Chapter 1 General Provisions

Article 1 (Purpose and Scope of Application)
1. The Conditions of Use define the conditions and procedures of using tradeKorea Website pursuant to the Telecommunications Business Act and the Enforcement Decree of the Act.
2. The tradeKorea Website refers to all of the following websites operated by KITA. - tradeKorea Global e-Marketplace ∙ Website for B2B trades and international business transactions ∙ URL : http://www.tradeKorea.com - tradeKorea export support website ∙ Support for tradeKorea Global e-Marketplace services, provision of information on trades, and support for online international marketing and online cultivation of international markets ∙ URL : http://kr.tradeKorea.com - tradeKorea Hansang Biz-network ∙ The portal site for Korean traders worldwide, support for trades with companies operated by Koreans, and support for establishment of homepages of compatriot enterprises and Korean associations abroad ∙ URL : http://hansang.tradeKorea.com
2. This Conditions of Use is applicable to all the companies and individuals, such as member companies of KITA, domestic companies, compatriot enterprises, and foreign companies, etc., who whishes to use tradeKorea Website.

Article 2 (Definition of terms)
1. User: A person who signed the tradeKorea service contract with KITA and was given an ID.
2. User ID: A combination of letters and numbers selected by the user and approved by KITA to identify the user in accessing tradeKorea services.
3. Password: A combination of letters and numbers set up by the user to identify himself as the lawful owner of the user ID and protect secrecy.
4. Member company: An enterprise for which KITA issued a trade reference number and is authorized to use all services of tradeKorea.

Article 3 (Disclosure, effect and change of Conditions of Use)
1. KITA shall post the Conditions of Use on the website to easy understanding by the Users. The Conditions of Use shall take effect upon posting by tradeKorea on the tradeKorea Website.
2. The Conditions of Use are a basic agreement between KITA and the user. KITA may prescribe provisions applicable to specific services (“Separate Conditions of Use”) and notify the users in advance, if necessary. In case a user agrees to such Separate Conditions of Use and uses the relevant specific services, the Separate Conditions of Use shall supersede conflicting terms in this Conditions of Use and this Conditions of Use shall have only supplementary effect.
3. KITA may revise the Conditions of Use to the extent that such a revision would not violate relevant laws and regulations such as the Regulation of Standardized Contracts Act, and the Act on promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc. In case that any revision is made to the Conditions of Use or the Separate Conditions of Use, KITA shall post the revised terms, effective date, and reasons for such revision on the tradeKorea website from seven days prior to the effective date until one day before the effective date. In case such a revision has a negative impact on the Users, KITA shall post on the tradeKorea Website at least fourteen days prior to the effective date and notify the Users via email, etc.
4. A revision to the Conditions of Use shall have the same effect on the Users who subscribed to the website prior to the date of the revision also. The pre-existing Users who have objections to the revised Conditions of Use may terminate the user agreement any time by a notification and may request for removal of registered information.
5. In the event a User continues to use tradeKorea Website and the relevant Services subsequent to the effective date of the revised Conditions of Use, the User is deemed to have agreed to the revision of the Conditions of Use.
6. In case KITA revises the Conditions of Use, the revised Conditions of Use shall supersede the pre-revision version of the Conditions of Use.

Article 4 (Relationship of the Conditions of Use with applicable laws and regulations)
1. In case matters not prescribed under the Conditions of Use are stipulated under the applicable laws, such laws shall apply.
2. In using the services provided by KITA, a user shall comply with applicable laws including the Act on the Consumer Protection in the Electronic Commerce Transactions, etc. (e.g.: regulations on mail order and Internet sales such as supplied brochures, labeling and advertising, return of goods, delivery, etc.), the Framework Act on Electronic Commerce (e.g.: regulations regarding the protection of consumers), the Consumer Protection Act (e.g.: regulations on enterprise’s obligations), the Fair Labeling and Advertising Act (e.g.: indications on product descriptions, other indications) and the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc. (e.g.: regulations on protection of personal information) and a user cannot claim immunity for violation of applicable laws on the grounds of conflicting provisions of the Conditions of Use.

Chapter 2 Execution of Service Use Agreement

Article 5 (Service Use Agreement)
1. The Service Use Agreement regarding the services of tradeKorea Website provided by KITA ("Service Use Agreement") is concluded as KITA approves a user’s application for the use of services. KITA shall notify the applicant of the approval by posting a notice on the website, or sending an email, etc.
2. An applicant may apply for the use of the Services by agreeing to the Conditions of Use and filling out and registering the application form for use of tradeKorea Website.
3. When an applicant applies for the use of services of tradeKorea Website, KITA may inquire the applicant if he also wishes to use the services of kita.net. If the applicant consents to the Conditions of Use of kita.net and applies for the use of services, the application for kita.net services becomes completed.
4. In case the applicant correctly fills out the required form and consents to the Conditions of Use, KITA shall, in principle, approve the application after verifying the real name of the applicant as stated under the Conditions of Use.
5. KITA may disapprove the application in case the applicant has violated the Conditions of Use or the relevant laws and regulations, or the application is confirmed to be in violation of the Conditions of Use or illegal or improper as falling under any of the following:
① the contents of the application are untrue;
② the applicant used another’s name illegally or improperly in making the application; or
③ the requirements for the application are not satisfied.

Article 6 (Authorization and administration of user ID)
1. In applying for a user ID, an individual user shall use his real name on the resident registration and a corporate user shall use the name of the company on the business registration certificate in principle. A compatriot enterprise or overseas enterprise shall follow special rules.
2. The user shall be solely responsible for administering the user ID and the password. KITA shall not be held responsible for any losses or damages incurred due to causes such as information leakage, assignment, rent or other negligence in administration other than those caused directly by an act of KITA.
3. A user shall take each of the following measures for safe administration of the user ID and the password.
① In case a user becomes aware of ID/password theft or an unauthorized use by a third party, the user shall immediately notify KITA and follow the instructions of KITA, if provided.
② A user shall make sure to log out after using the Service.
③ A user shall not let others know his ID and password or allow others to use such information without a reasonable cause.
4. A company authorized to use a corporate ID shall exercise due care in administering employee IDs to prevent information leakage or unauthorized alterations of information, etc. KITA shall not be held liable for damages incurred to the company caused by negligence in employee supervision.
5. A user ID cannot be shared or assigned. In case a user shares or assigns his ID without prior approval by KITA, KITA may discontinue services provided for the user ID.

Article 7 (Termination of Service Use Agreement)
1. A user may terminate the Service Use Agreement at any time by notifying KITA.
2. KITA may terminate the Service Use Agreement for reasons falling under any of the following. In such a case, KITA shall notify the user of the reason for termination via email, telephone, or fax, etc. However, KITA may give the user an opportunity to state his opinions regarding the reason for termination in advance.
① A user didn’t meet qualifications required by KITA to access tradeKorea website Services at the time of application or became disqualified afterwards.
② Registered information was found to be false (use of alias, etc.) or there are reasonable grounds to believe that the information is false.
③ A user violated his obligations stated under Article 13.
④ A user posted articles listed under Article 14, Paragraph 1 of the Conditions of Use or traded or attempted to trade goods which disturb the public order or social customs.
⑤ A user failed to log in to tradeKorea Website during the reasonable period determined and notified by KITA after the user failed to log in to tradeKorea Website for six consecutive months while using the Services.
⑥ A user refused to consent to a revision of Conditions of Use for adding, modifying or deleting contents of tradeKorea Website for reasonable causes such as an amendment to an applicable law, changes in circumstances, improvement of services, etc..
⑦ A user committed an act in violation of the Conditions of Use or applicable laws or other causes of termination set forth by the Conditions of Use occurred.

Chapter 3 Use of tradeKorea Website

Article 8 (tradeKorea Website Service hours)
1. tradeKorea Website Services are available for 24 hours a day, and 365 days a year in principle, unless there are operational or technical problems.
2. The Services may not be available on the dates or during hours notified by KITA in advance for regular inspections, etc.

Article 9 (Posting advertisements and transactions with advertisers)
1. KITA may post advertisements on tradeKorea Website.
2. KITA shall not be liable for losses or damages incurred to a user arising from participating in promotional activities or advertisement posted on tradeKorea Website or communicating or transacting with an advertiser.

Article 10 (Changes in contents of tradeKorea Website)
1. KITA may add, modify or delete contents of tradeKorea Website with the consent of users.
2. KITA shall help users fully understand the additions, modifications or deletions made pursuant to the preceding paragraph by the method under Paragraph 3 of Article 2.
3. In making the additions, modifications or deletions pursuant to the preceding paragraph, KITA may obtain consent from users through the method prescribed in paragraphs 4 and 5 of Article 2.

Article 11 (Termination of tradeKorea Website Services)
1. KITA may terminate provision of tradeKorea Website Services for reasons falling under any of the following.
① when inspection and/or facility expansion or replacement, etc. of tradeKorea Website system is needed.
② The Services is terminated for reasons that can’t be controlled by KITA (Disc malfunction, system shutdown caused without intentional or negligent misconduct of the system administrator).
③ The system is shut down due to intentional or negligent acts of others (backbone telecommunication service provider or CP, etc.).
2. KITA may limit or suspend access to all or part of the Services of tradeKorea in case national emergencies, power blackout, technical problems of tradeKorea Website equipment or website overload prevents normal use of the website services.
3. KITA shall not be responsible for losses incurred by users arising from the suspension of tradeKorea Website Services unless such suspension is caused by intentional misconduct or gross negligence of KITA.

Article 12 (Obligations of KITA)
1. KITA shall ensure that tradeKorea Website Services are made available from the date requested by the user unless special circumstances prohibit such timely provision of the Services.
2. KITA is obligated to provide continuous and stable tradeKorea Website Services as provided by the Conditions of Use.
3. In order to ensure that various services including tradeKorea are made available to users, KITA may gather information registered on the application form or updated thereafter for such period required for the provision of the Services.
4. KITA shall take technical and administrative measures necessary to protect personal information provided by users to KITA from loss, theft, leakage, alteration or damages. KITA shall designate a staff responsible for personal information management in order to protect users’ personal information and handle users’ complaints regarding personal information.
5. KITA shall not provide, disclose or distribute users’ personal information gathered in relation to provision of tradeKorea Website Services to a third party without the users’ consent, except on occasions specified below.
① Personal information is requested by governmental authorities pursuant to applicable laws such as Framework Act on Telecommunications, etc.
② Personal information is needed for a crime investigation or requested by Korea Internet Safety Commission.
③ Personal information is requested pursuant to procedures set by applicable laws including the Act on Real Name Financial Transactions and Guarantee of Secrecy, the Use and Protection of Credit Information Act, the Telecommunications Business Act, the Local Tax Act, the Consumer Protection Act, the Bank of Korea Act, the Criminal Procedure Act, etc.
④ Personal information is required for assessment and/or payment of the fees for provision of the Services.
⑤ Personal information is required for statistics, academic training or market research provided that the information is processed to delete information that can identify specific individuals. 6. KITA may provide user information or posted articles to other organizations in business alliance with KITA after obtaining the consent of the user. In such a case, KITA shall receive the user’s consent on who will receive such information, how the information will be used, what kind of information will be provided, how long will the information be held and used, etc. respectively.
7. KITA shall destroy personal information upon disappearance of the purpose of information collected or provided including on occasions of withdrawal from membership, provided that such information shall not be destroyed if required under applicable laws.

Article 13 (Obligations of users)
1. A user shall be qualified to access tradeKorea Services as required by KITA.
2. A user shall enter true, precise and complete data in the template required by tradeKorea Website, and update such data with the passage of time.
3. A user shall fully comply with provisions of the Conditions of Use and applicable laws.
4. A user shall not engage in any of the conducts listed below:
① making a copy of information obtained through tradeKorea Website for any purposes other than his own use or providing such information to a third party without prior consent of KITA;
② sending unsolicited information or advertisements continuously or conducts against sound service use practices such as receiving/sending or posting large quantity data and articles, etc. that may disturb stable provision of the Services;
③ infringing rights or interests, such as credit and reputation, of KITA, other users or other persons;
④ interference on smooth provision of services of KITA; and
⑤ registration of products without an intent to sell them.

Article 14 (Postings of users)
1. KITA may delete postings and/or prohibit permanently or temporarily a user from posting articles in cases the Service Use Agreement is terminated or a posting falls under any of the following categories:
① The posting negatively affects the rights, personal information, credit or other legitimate interests of others by slandering.
② The posting disturbed public order or social customs.
③ The posting contains materials illegal, obscene and/or harmful to juveniles, promotes goods with similar effects, or contains links to sites with similar effects.
④ The posting infringes or has potential to infringe intellectual property rights of others.
⑤ Falsified goods that infringe on the trademark rights of others are registered.
⑥ The posting period set by KITA is exceeded.
⑦ The nature of the posting does not conform to the characteristics of the Services or an identical content is posted multiple times.
⑧ The posting include false or exaggerated advertising contents.
⑨ The posting is objectively recognized to be related to criminal acts.
⑩ A report has been filed against a posting for internet fraud on specific grounds and the suspicion is recognizable to a certain degree.
⑪ The posting contains a computer virus or data which causes malfunction or confusion in telecommunication equipment.
⑫ Applicable laws or postings administration policies of KITA are determined to be violated.
2. Individuals shall take civil and criminal responsibilities arising from copyright infringements, etc. caused by his/her postings (including images, phrases, attachments, etc.) and KITA shall not be held liable for the user postings.
3. As long as the rights of a third party are not violated, individuals who put up the postings registered in tradeKorea Website of KITA shall own the copyright on the postings. KITA shall hold the right to publish such postings in tradeKorea Website.
4. With the consent of the copyright holder, KITA may use the postings for promotion, etc. In putting up a posting, a user can choose whether to allow KITA to provide the posting or certain information of the user to business alliances of KITA for promotional purposes. A user can’t hold KITA liable for activities within the authorized power in relation to violation of copyrights or infringement on personal information.
5. In case postings or registered information (“Infringing Information”) of a user tradeKorea Website is found defamatory or found to infringe rights of a third party such as privacy rights and/or intellectual property rights including copyrights, KITA shall take necessary measures, such as deleting such information without delay or temporarily disabling access to the posting for periods less than 30 days (“Temporary Measures”) upon request by the party whose rights are infringed to delete such information or post counterarguments. These measures may also be taken when KITA determines that a posting infringes the rights of KITA. After taking necessary measures against Infringing Information, KITA shall immediately notify the requestor and the party who posted the Infringing Information. In case the user whose postings are deleted provides sufficient evidence proving that the postings are not Infringing Information, such as a settlement agreement between the parties involved in the dispute or a protocol with irrevocable effect, and demand the deleted information to be restored or stop the Temporary Measures, KITA may satisfy such request.

Article 15 (Disclaimer of agency relationship and warranties)
1. KITA only provides an online marketplace for trades among users and is not an agent of any user who intends to sell or purchase goods. In addition, no acts of KITA shall be viewed as an act conducted on behalf of any seller or buyer.
2. In relation to sale and purchase between users through tradeKorea Website, KITA shall make no warranties for the intent to buy or sell and the sincerity of such statement, quality of the registered goods, completeness, safety, legality, non-infringement on rights of others, correctness of information provided by users and/or data listed on the URL linked, etc. and the use of such information shall be at each user’s own risk.
3. KITA does not control or limit general information posted by users such as product descriptions, etc. However, KITA may delete the information or take necessary measures in case postings are determined to be a violation of others’ rights, or applicable laws or harmful to others’ reputation.

Chapter 4 Miscellaneous
1. The Association only provides an online marketplace for trades among users and does not represent any user who intends to sell or purchase goods. In addition, no acts of the Association shall be viewed as an act of representation on behalf of any seller or buyer.
2. In relation to sale and purchase between users through tradeKorea, the Association shall make no warranties for the intent to buy or sell and the sincerity of such statement, quality of the registered goods, completeness, safety, legality, non-infringement on rights of others, correctness of information provided by users and/or data listed on the URL linked, etc. and the use of such information shall be at each user’s own risk.
3. The Association does not control or limit general information posted by users such as product descriptions, etc. However, the Association may delete the information or take necessary measures in case postings are determined to be a violation of others’ rights, or applicable laws or harmful to others’ reputation.

Chapter 4 Miscellaneous

Article 16 (Immunity)
1. In case the provision of services is temporarily or permanently disturbed by natural disasters, force majeure, repair and maintenance activities for information and telecommunications equipment, replacement, malfunction, or disconnection of telecommunication services, etc., KITA shall not be responsible to provide the services. In such a case, KITA shall notify users through the website or other methods.
2. KITA shall not be responsible for disturbances to the use of tradeKorea Website caused by Internet users including the website users.
3. KITA only provides an online marketplace and supplementary information for users. Therefore, users shall be responsible to conduct transactions, delivery the goods, cancel orders, return the cancelled goods, settle disputes regarding defects, etc. for any transaction made through tradeKorea Website. KITA shall not be involved in any of the above mentioned activities and shall take no responsibility. KITA shall not be held liable for any losses incurred by users due to defects of goods and/or erroneous or insufficient registration information of goods traded through tradeKorea Website, etc. (including product liability).
4. KITA shall not be responsible for unrealized benefits or losses arising from use of the services or selection of provided information in tradeKorea Website.
5. KITA shall not be held liable for users’ pain and suffering while using tradeKorea Website caused by other users unless KITA knowingly and maliciously neglected to take due care of the situation.
6. KITA shall not take responsibility for damages arising from users’ trust in credibility, accurateness, etc. of information, data and/or facts provided through tradeKorea Website.
7. Personal information voluntarily disclosed by a user is subject to random collection and use by others and the user shall take the risk thereof.
8. The user is liable for any loss caused by wrongfulness of the information registered at the time of application or of submission of the posting, failure to update, or errors in updates. KITA is not liable for such losses.
9. KITA makes no representation on and has no control over other sites a user visits through this site.
10. KITA and linked enterprises (enterprises operating sites linked to the website of KITA) are independently operated and KITA shall not take responsibility for transactions executed between the users and linked enterprises.
11. KITA shall not be held liable for losses incurred by the users in relation to the services provided by KITA without intentional misconduct or gross negligence on the part of KITA.

Article 18 (Others)
1. Supplementary documents including exhibits and attachments to the Conditions of Use shall have effects as part of the Conditions of Use.
2. Matters not specified by the Conditions of Use or for which objection was raised regarding interpretation shall be discussed and resolved by and between users and KITA.
3. The laws of Korea shall apply to the Conditions of Use, the Service Use Agreement between KITA and users, and transaction of goods among members and also to the interpretation of the Conditions of Use, the Service Use Agreement between KITA and users, transaction of goods among members, and jurisdiction and venue.

Supplementary Provision
1. (Effective date) The Conditions of Use shall take effect as of July 27, 2008.