Chapter 1 General Provisions

Article 1 (Purpose)

The purpose of these terms of use (hereinafter referred to as “the Terms of Use”) is to prescribe all matters about the conditions of use, procedure, etc., between the Seoul Business Agency (hereinafter referred to as “SBA”) and users in using various means of online export support and advice or exhibition services (hereinafter referred to as “Service”) provided by the online export platform (hereinafter referred to as “Trade On”) established and operated by SBA.

Article 2 (Definition of Terms)

The terms used in the Terms of Use are defined as follows

• “Trade On” is a website operated by the SBA to support online export of Korean Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and includes the following domains:
  • tradeon.kr
  • tradeon.sba.kr
• “User” is a person or an organization that registered for a Trade On website service contract and received a member ID, and is provided with “Services” by “Trade On.” For example, there are exhibiting company, and buyer:
  • Exhibiting Company: As an SME in accordance with the Framework Act on Small and Medium Enterprises, a member who does not run the business that is excluded from the support and can use an array of Services provided in Trade On differentially according to granted grades such as premium and member. (Required for acquiring corporate membership in the homepage of SBA and linking to it by using valid corporate registration number)
  • Buyer: An overseas member who joined Trade On to purchase or distribute the products registered in Trade On, and can use Services such as product search, trade inquiry, or video consultation.
• “ID“ refers to a combination of letters and numbers that “User” selects and SBA approves for identification of “User” and service of “Services,” and user can service only one ID in principle;
• “Password” refers to a combination of letters, numbers, and special letters that “User” selects and SBA approves to confirm that “User” matches “ID” and protect the information of “User” in Internet communication;
• “Posts” or “postings” refer to writings, photographs, videos, various files & links, and trade inquiries in the form of information such as letters, voices, sounds and videos which “User” posted on “Trade On” in using “Services”;
• The definition of terms that are not defined in this Article shall follow the provisions of relevant laws such as the Framework Act on Telecommunications, the Telecommunications Business Act, and the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, Etc.

Article 3 (Effectiveness and Changes of the Terms of Use)

• The Terms of Use shall take effect as notified to users on the Trade On website or through other methods including email and the users who agreed with these and subsequently joined the service.
• The SBA may amend the Terms of Use by modifying and revising the contents thereof while remaining in compliance with relevant laws such as the Framework Act on Telecommunications, the Telecommunications Business Act, and the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, Etc., and the amended Terms of Use shall take effect as users are notified of these changes through the methods specified in Paragraph 1 and the users who agree with these. This does not apply retroactively in this case unless there is a special substantive enactment.
• The SBA may prescribe matters to be applied to specific services (hereinafter referred to as “Separate Terms of Use”) if necessary, and the Separate Terms of Use shall be preferentially applied when a user agrees with and uses a service relevant to the Separate Terms of Use.
• When the Terms of Use and Separate Terms of Use are changed, the reason for amendment and application date shall be specified and notified in Trade On from seven days before the application date to the day before the application date. However, if the changes have a critical influence on the rights and duties of users or can be unfavorable contents to users, the amendment shall be specified and notified in Trade On from 30 days before the application date to the day before the application date.
• The amended Terms of Use shall be applied equally to those users who contracted a service before the amendment and users will be separately notified of the amended Terms of Use and the period of expression of will (one year) after the enforcement date, and it is considered that users agree to an amendment to the Terms of Use unless they express their disagreement with the amended Terms of Use.
• Users may cancel the service contract and ask the deletion of their personal information any time if they do not agree with the amended Terms of Use.

Article 4 (Rules Other than Terms of Use and Relations with Related Statues)

• Matters not stipulated in the Terms of Use shall follow the aims by service or other relevant laws such as the Framework Act on Telecommunications, the Telecommunications Business Act, and the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, Etc. and the administrative rules thereof.
• When relevant laws conflict with the Terms of Use, the contents of the statues come first and indemnities shall not be required based on the Terms of Use.

Chapter 2 Service Contract

Article 5 (Conclusion of Service Contract)

• The service contract on the services of Trade On (hereinafter referred to as “Service Contract”) is concluded when the user agrees to the contents of the Terms of Use posted on the service screen and is established as the SBA approves the service application of users.
• The SBA may not approve an application that falls under the following, and may request changes to or terminate the service contract of a disqualified applicant after use:
  • ① When a user who applies for the service has been disqualified before by the Terms of Use: However, a user for whom one year has passed since disqualification, may reapply and if membership is permitted by the SBA, this case shall be an exception;
  • ② When a user uses a false name or another person's name, or a corporate registration number is stolen from other companies;
  • ③ When false information is provided or there is reason to believe the information provided is false;
  • ④ When service application conditions made by the SBA are not adhered to;
  • ⑤ When there is concern that the ID of users may be leaked or misrepresented as the operator of Trade On, and a user’s information or actions are considered anti-social or against public morals;
  • ⑥ When approval is not available due to a user’s error or an application is made in violation of other prescribed matters;
  • ⑦ When it is deemed necessary by the SBA.
• The SBA may postpone the permission of service application when service facilities are insufficient or there is a technology or work problem.
• When the permission of service application is not made or postponed according to Paragraphs 2 through 3, the SBA shall, in principle, notify the service users of such fact.
• The SBA may differentiate service use by putting grades on users according to the operation policies of Trade On.

Article 6 (Obligations of SBA)

• The SBA shall make its best efforts to provide services continuously and stably except for cases prescribed in the Terms of Use.
• The SBA shall make every effort to maintain the service facilities to be continuously operable and to immediately repair and recover the facilities when failures occur.
• If there is a complaint raised by a user relating to services, the SBA must handle this immediately and the reason and the user must be notified of the processing schedule, if it is difficult to handle immediately.

Article 7 (Obligations of Users)

• The ID of any user who is found to have stolen the name of others shall be deleted and the user is subject to punishment according to relevant laws.
• Users shall provide accurate information that corresponds to current facts (hereinafter referred to as “Information for Joining”) when applying for service use. In addition, when there are changes in Information for Joining, such application must be renewed immediately. However, the real name and ID cannot be modified as required for service management. When Information for Joining and renewed information are inaccurate, the SBA and Trade On shall not be responsible for any disadvantage caused by such inaccuracies.
• Users are responsible for management of their ID and password and no third party shall have access to or authorized use of them.
• When users recognize that their ID and password have been stolen or a third party is using them, they shall notify Trade On of such fact immediately and follow the instructions from Trade On.
• Regarding Paragraph 4, Trade On shall not be responsible for any disadvantages resulting from a user’s failure to notify Trade On of such fact or failure to follow the instructions of Trade On after notifying it of such fact.
• Trade On shall not be responsible for any loss or damages resulting from sharing, leakage, transfer, rental or other poor management of a user’s ID and password not authorized by the SBA and Trade On.
• Users shall comply with relevant laws, provisions of the Terms of Use, and matters notified by the SBA such as use guide and cautions, and shall not engage in any action that interferes with the work of the SBA.
• Users shall not engage in profit-seeking activities using Services without permission from the SBA.
• Users shall not copy, reproduce, change, translate, publish and/or broadcast the information acquired by using a Service, use it for other purposes, or provide it to others.
• Users shall not engage in the following actions regarding users’ Service use:
  • ① Stealing another user’s ID, password, and date of birth;
  • ② Harming others (including minorities);
  • ③ Posting or publishing vulgar or obscene data, texts, software, music, photos, graphics, video messages (hereinafter referred to as “Contents”) or sending the Contents via email;
  • ④ Posting or publishing contents without rights (all rights including intellectual property) or sending the contents via email;
  • ⑤ Using an alias, pretending to be another person, stating false relationship with others, or defaming or insulting others;
  • ⑥ Publishing unnecessary or unapproved advertisements or promotional materials against another’s will, sending junk mail, spam and chain letters, inviting others to join illegal network marketing companies, or posting, publishing or sending related materials via email;
  • ⑦ Hacking or posting, publishing or emailing a software virus that could destruct and/or interfere with computer software, hardware, electric communication equipment, or restrict functions thereof;
  • ⑧ Posting and publishing data including other computer codes, files and programs or sending them via email;
  • ⑨ Distributing false information to benefit the property of the user or others or cause others to suffer damages;
  • ⑩ Actions that violate other relevant laws or are anti-social or against public morals;
  • ⑪ Other all actions that disrupt the stable operation of a Service or cause other such concerns.

Article 8 (Cancellation of Service Contract)

• Users of Trade On may cancel their service contract by notifying Trade On of their intention to cancel through email, telephone, fax or other methods of communication
• The SBA may cancel a user’s service contract for the following reasons:
  • ① When a user is not qualified for the requirements for using Services provided in Trade On or they are disqualified due to the closure of business;
  • ② When Information for Joining has been proven to be false (borrowed name, etc.) or there is reasonable doubt about the accuracy of such information
  • ③ When a user violates the obligations stipulated in Article 6 of the Terms of Use;
  • ④ When a user register postings violating the Terms of Use or tries to engage in transaction of products against public order and morals;
  • ⑤ When the SBA amended, added, changed and deleted contents of the Terms of Use for reasonable reasons such as changes of relevant laws and trade situations and improvement of Service, and asks for agreement from users, but users refuse;
  • ⑥ When a user engages in criminal acts, plans and implements the use of Services against public interest, engages in conducts that hinder the Services offering, and violates Terms of Use and relevant laws, or when the reasons for cancellation stipulated in the Terms of Use occur;
  • ⑦ During the use of Services, when there is a case where there is no record of using Services for 12 consecutive months or longer.
• The SBA shall notify users of cancellation by explaining the reason for cancellation through email, telephone, fax and other methods of communication. However, the SBA may grant an opportunity for such accused users to state their disagreement with the opinion regarding the reason for cancellation.
• The SBA may limit the permission for a certain period when a member who was canceled according to Paragraph 2, Article 8 of the Terms of Use reapplies for access to Service.

Article 9 (Protection and Disclosure of Personal Information)

• The SBA shall make every effort to protect personal information of users as provided by relevant laws such as the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, Etc. Protection and use of personal information shall follow relevant laws and the personal information processing policies of Trade On.
• The SBA collects personal information on users provided when applying for Service use, and such personal information shall be used for the purpose of fulfillment of this Service contract and service provision as specified in the Service contract.
• The SBA may provide information of users to a third party as permitted by law in the following cases:
  • ① When a user is asked to submit information to an investigative agency or other government agency related to violation of relevant laws in using Services;
  • ② When there is a request from the Korea Internet Safety Commission;
  • ③ When needed for information protection work such as confirmation of fraudulent acts including user's violation of laws and the Terms of Use;
  • ④ When required by other laws.

Chapter 3 Provision and Use of Services

Article 10 (Contents of Services)

• Services to users provided by the SBA in Trade On are as follows. The provided services can vary depending on the grades of users:
  • ① Online exhibition service;
  • ② Communication and matching service between users such as sending inquiries, and video consultations;
  • ③ Product information search service;
  • ④ Accessing offline video consultation room and consultation for export advice;
  • ⑤ Providing buyer information;
  • ⑤ Notice, newsletter, export-related web seminar and other works stipulated by the SBA.
• The SBA may add or change contents of Services when necessary. In this case, the SBA shall notify users of the contents added or changed.
• Trade On may provide links for websites or data of third parties. Trade On shall not be responsible for contents, advertisements, and products of the corresponding site and data since it does not have the right of control for such site and data.
• The SBA may sign for business cooperation and agreement with other institutions to increase the export volume of Korean corporate members and in this case, related information and record data can be provided to the corresponding institutions for the purpose of promotion and marketing of Korean corporate members.
• To provide the changed Services, the SBA notifies users when contents of Services are to be changed in Trade On and the provision date shall be at least seven days before the effective date.

Article 11 (Service Fee)

Services provided by the SBA in Trade On are free. However, the SBA may charge some Services later and then the SBA shall separately notify users of the details.

Article 12 (Beginning of Service)

Services begin as soon as the SBA permits the Service application according to Article 5, Chapter 2 of the Terms of Use. However, when Services cannot begin immediately because of SBA’s technical or work difficulties, the SBA shall notify users of such fact.

Article 13 (Service Use Time)

• Services can be used for 24 hours a day, all year around unless there are technical or work difficulties at the SBA, or other special reasons. However, Services can be partially or totally limited if the SBA notifies users in advance of the necessity for such limitation of access due to a regular or occasional inspection of facilities or if the use of Services is hindered due to inevitable reasons such as unexpected facilities-related problems and active connection of Services.
• The SBA may separately decide the use time of some of its Services, and in this case, the SBA shall notify users of the use time in advance.

Article 14 (Provision of Information and Publication of Advertisement)

• In operating Services, the SBA may provide various information to members by posting them in Services.
• With respect to the operation of Services, the SBA may insert advertisements in the Service screen, homepage, email and other mails such as DM.
• The SBA shall not be responsible for loss or damage resulting from a user’s participation, correspondence with or trade in the advertisements on the Trade On website or promotional activities of the advertisers.

Article 15 (Suspension of Service)

• The SBA may suspend the provision of Services in the following cases:
  • ① When there are unavoidable reasons such as repair, inspection, replacement, expansion or failure of information and communication equipment or disruption of communications;
  • ② When the telecommunications business operator specified in the Telecommunication Business Act suspends telecommunication services;
  • ③ When Services were suspended due to reasons beyond the SBA’s control such as unintentional disc failure without system manager’s intention or mistake, system down and state of national emergency, outage, and active connection of Service use;
  • ④ When there are other reasonable reasons that the SBA cannot provide Services.
• When Services are suspended due to Subparagraph 1, Paragraph 1, Trade On shall notify users of such fact in advance. However, this shall not apply if prior notification is impossible due to reasons beyond control of the SBA and Trade On.
• The SBA shall not be liable for damages to users caused by the suspension of Trade On Service.

Article 16 (Management of Posts)

• The SBA does not guarantee the accuracy, safety or quality of posts on Trade On except for those it posts (notices, newsletters, etc.), and users should directly contact persons who have made the posts for inquiries or other communication.
• The SBA shall be exempted from indemnification except in cases where intentional or gross negligence is proven concerning the accuracy and safety of posts.
• If the SBA violates the Terms of Use or illegal posts are discovered, the SBA may delete the offending posts without prior notice to or the agreement of the publisher and shall not be held liable for such action.
• Copyrights of posts posted in Services by users belong to users and the SBA may utilize them such as posting in other Services.
• Civil and criminal liability incurred in infringing copyrights of others or program copyrights due to image, phrases, videos (including attached files) included in the posts of users absolutely rests entirely with the publisher of the corresponding posts, and the SBA shall not be liable for any damages resulting from such posts.
• When a service contract is terminated, all posts made by the user (including exhibition booths and product DBs) shall be deleted, and the SBA shall not be responsible for any damages incurred to a user due to the deletion of his/her posts.

Article 17 (Disclaimer of Substitution and Warranty)

• The SBA does not represent users who aim to sell or purchase products, since it only provides an online trading place for mutual transactions among users. In addition, any actions of the SBA and Trade On shall not be regarded as acting on behalf of an exhibiting company (seller) or buyer (purchaser).
• The SBA shall not guarantee any matters concerning the existence and nonexistence of the intention to sell and purchase, the quality of registered products, completeness, stability, suitability and non-infringement of others’ rights, or truth of posted data with respect to sales and purchases between users made through Trade On. All risks and responsibilities relating to these shall be borne by the corresponding users.
• The SBA shall not have any control of or restrict any information such as product descriptions posted by users. However, when the contents of information posted by users are deemed to infringe upon the fame or rights of others or violate rules, the SBA may refuse to permit or delete these contents, or take other necessary measures.

Chapter 4 Others

Article 18 (Prohibition of Transfer)

Service use rights of users or other conditions specified in the Service contract shall not be transferred or given to others or provided as collateral.

Article 19 (Compensation for Damage)

With respect to Services provided for free, the SBA shall not be liable for any damages incurred to users except in cases where such damages result from the gross negligence of the SBA.

Article 20 (Exemption from Responsibilities and Compensation)

• The SBA and Trade On shall not be responsible for any problems caused by the following reasons:
  • ① When an infringement occurs due to neglected security management by a user;
  • ② When Service is suspended to prevent the spread of accidents in a user’s system;
  • ③ Necessary follow-up handling such as transaction progress management, implementation of transactions, product delivery, subscription withdrawal, product return or dispute caused by the defective products;
  • ④ When users have damages (including product liability) due to defects of products traded on Trade On or erroneous or incomplete product registration information;
  • ⑤ When problems occur due to the intention or negligence of a user;
  • ⑥ When problems occur due to defects of telecommunications provided by communication business operators other than Trade On;
  • ⑦ When problems occur due to software installed on the server by a user;
  • ⑧ When there is a legal problem relating to the copyright of a file uploaded by a user;
  • ⑨ When data is lost because a user fails to back up the data;
  • ⑩ Profit or loss expected to occur from the use of Services on Trade On by a user or profit or loss expected to occur due to information or data acquired through the Services;
  • ⑪ When problems occur regarding the contents of data as posted or transmitted by the user on the Services;
  • ⑫ Results of maintenance or management carried out directly or indirectly by executives and employees of users or employees or agent of the consignment company designated by the user for Services provided by Trade On;
  • ⑬ When compensation for any claim occurs from a third party to the user;
  • ⑭ When a user suffers damages due to other sites linked with Trade On.
• All responsibility for the content posted by a user in Services, such as the reliability and accuracy of information and data shall be borne by the user who posted such content. Also, in the event that damages arise from postings or data sent by a user in Services, or a disadvantage arises from selection of data, or use of Services, the user shall be liable except as specified otherwise in the Terms of Use.
• The SBA shall not be responsible for any problems occurring between users or between a user and a third party due to violation of these regulations.
• The user is responsible for any damages resulting from negligence in managing and/or using his/her ID and password.
• When SBA is responsible for a user or third party due to the user violating the regulations in the Terms of Use and thus the SBA suffers damages, the user who violated the Terms of Use shall compensate the SBA for all damages incurred and indemnify the SBA from such damages.

Article 21 (Dispute Resolution)

• The SBA and a user shall make every effort to resolve disputes related to the Services.
• If a lawsuit is filed due to a dispute despite the provision of Paragraph 1, the lawsuit shall be within the jurisdiction of the court in the location of SBA headquarters, and the laws of the Republic of Korea shall apply.
• When the Korean version and English version of the Terms of Use are in discord, the Korean version shall prevail.
• Regarding matters not prescribed in the Terms of Use or for which there are different opinions for interpretation, the SBA and the user shall discuss and mutually agree to a resolution.