Guide

How to Find and Verify Korean Cosmetics Manufacturers (2026)

For brands and buyers sourcing skincare or cosmetics from Korea: who does what, what the official Korean records can and cannot tell you about a manufacturer, and what to ask before you pay for samples.

Last reviewed October 13, 2026 · K-Beauty Database

1. Know who you are dealing with

Korean cosmetics law separates the company that makes a product from the company that puts it on the market. Both must register with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) under Article 3 of the Cosmetics Act.

Cosmetics manufacturing business (화장품제조업). A company registered to manufacture all or part of a cosmetic product. Work limited to secondary packaging or labelling does not count as manufacturing under the Act.
Responsible distribution business (화장품책임판매업). The company that distributes or sells cosmetics while managing their quality and safety — typically the brand owner. Many Korean brands hold this registration and contract their manufacturing out.

Two commercial terms sit on top of that legal split. Neither is an MFDS registration category:

OEM — the manufacturer produces a product to your specification, usually with a formula you supply or approve, under your brand.
ODM — the manufacturer also develops the formula, often starting from its own existing formulas, and produces it under your brand. Who owns an ODM formula afterwards is a contract question; settle it in writing.

The practical consequence: a company on a product label, or one with a polished brand site, is not necessarily a factory. Before you negotiate, confirm which registration the company actually holds.

2. Where to find candidates

The MFDS business register. The official open-data register of cosmetics manufacturing and responsible-distribution businesses lists registered companies with their business type and registration date. It is comprehensive, but in Korean and says nothing about capabilities.
The MFDS CGMP list. MFDS publishes the manufacturers it has found compliant with Korea’s cosmetics good manufacturing practice standard (CGMP, 우수화장품 제조 및 품질관리기준). Useful if you need a GMP-certified site.
Products you already admire. Packaging must name the business operator responsible for the product. That is often the brand, not the factory — but it gives you a company to look up.
Manufacturer websites, trade fairs and B2B marketplaces. Good for finding who is actively selling OEM/ODM services. Everything there is self-reported, so verify it the same way.
K-Beauty Database. An English-language index of MFDS-registered manufacturers, joined to the official records above and to the companies’ own websites (see section 7).

3. Verify the company in five checks

Get the exact legal name and business registration number. A Korean business registration number (사업자등록번호) has ten digits, written 000-00-00000. A real manufacturer will give you both; they also belong on quotations, invoices and the contract.
Confirm the manufacturing registration. The company should appear in the MFDS register as a manufacturing business (제조업), not only as a responsible distribution business (책임판매업). You can also ask for a copy of its registration certificate.
Check the business status. The National Tax Service reports whether a business registration number is active, suspended or closed (계속 · 휴업 · 폐업). The check is available through the NTS public service and Hometax.
Check CGMP if it matters to you. Korean CGMP is a voluntary MFDS designation aligned with the ISO 22716 cosmetics GMP standard. A registered manufacturer is not required to hold it, so its absence is not a violation — but if you sell into markets that expect GMP, ask for the certificate and check the site against the MFDS list.
Make sure the names, numbers and sites line up. A registration can sit under a different business number from the company you are talking to — a plant and a head office, or a registration left under a holding company after a restructuring. Ask which legal entity will sign, and which site will make your product. For larger companies, the DART disclosure system shows the official company overview.

4. What official records establish — and what they don’t

They can establish

That a company is registered with MFDS as a cosmetics manufacturer (or responsible distributor), and since when.
Whether its business registration number is active, suspended or closed, according to the NTS.
Whether it appears on the MFDS list of CGMP-compliant manufacturers.
For functional cosmetics (for example whitening, anti-wrinkle or sun protection products), which company filed or had a product reviewed — visible in MFDS’s nedrug records. The filer is often the brand, not the factory.

They cannot establish

Whether the company takes on outside brands, or small ones.
Whether it offers OEM, ODM or private label, or formulates in-house.
Its MOQ, capacity, pricing, lead times or quality on your batch.
Experience with your specific product form or claims.
Compliance with your target market’s rules (see section 5).
Where production actually happens: the address on a register can be a head office.

Treat registration as a floor — evidence the company exists and is licensed — not as evidence it is a good fit.

5. Evaluate fit for your product and market

Product form. Ask what products in your form (serum, sunscreen, sheet mask…) the site makes today, and whether that step is in-house or subcontracted.
OEM or ODM. If you have a formula, you need a manufacturer willing to work to it. If you don’t, you need real formulation capability — and clarity on formula ownership.
United States. Under MoCRA, facilities that manufacture or process cosmetics distributed in the U.S. must register with the FDA, including foreign contract manufacturers (certain small businesses are exempt). Sunscreen is different: in the U.S. it is regulated as an over-the-counter (OTC) drug, not simply as a cosmetic under MoCRA — and so is a moisturizer or makeup with an SPF claim. A factory making sunscreen for the U.S. market must meet FDA drug requirements: drug establishment registration, drug listing and drug good manufacturing practice, with the product meeting FDA’s OTC sunscreen requirements. Many cosmetics factories are not set up for this. The FDA does not approve cosmetics before sale, so treat any claim that a cosmetic is “FDA approved” with caution.
European Union. Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009 requires products to be manufactured according to good manufacturing practice (compliance with ISO 22716 is presumed to meet it), and the brand needs an EU-based responsible person and a product notification before sale. Before sale, the responsible person must also have the product safety-assessed and documented in a Cosmetic Product Safety Report (CPSR), and keep a Product Information File (PIF) — including the CPSR, the method of manufacture with a GMP compliance statement, and proof of any claimed effect — for ten years after the last batch is placed on the market (Articles 10–11). Ask early whether the manufacturer will supply the formula and test data these require.
Scale. Large ODMs and small factories suit different order sizes. Neither is better in general; the right one matches your volumes and the attention you need.

6. Questions to ask before you pay for samples

MOQ and pricing

What is the minimum order per SKU, and per production batch?
Does the MOQ differ for an existing formula versus a custom one?
Are packaging components (bottles, pumps, cartons) subject to their own minimums?

Capabilities

Which steps happen at your own site — formulation, bulk production, filling, packaging?
Which site would make our product, and is it the registered (and, if relevant, CGMP-listed) site?

Formulation

Are we starting from your existing formula or developing a new one?
Who owns the final formula, and can we move production elsewhere later?
Can you support the claims we want to make, including any functional-cosmetic filing in Korea?

Compliance and documents

Can you share your MFDS manufacturing registration and, if held, your CGMP or ISO 22716 certificate?
For U.S. sales: is the facility registered with the FDA under MoCRA?
For U.S. sunscreen or any SPF claim: is the site registered with the FDA as a drug establishment, who will list the product with the FDA, and do you manufacture to U.S. drug GMP?
Which documents come as standard (ingredient list, certificates of analysis, safety data sheets, stability data), and which cost extra?

Samples

What do samples cost, how many revision rounds are included, and how long is each round?
Are samples made the same way and at the same site as production?

Lead times and terms

How long from an approved sample to finished goods, and what usually delays it?
What are the payment terms, and how are defects and batch failures handled?
Will you sign an NDA, and is any exclusivity possible?

Red flags

No business registration number, or reluctance to share it.
A business number the NTS reports as closed or suspended.
Claims to own a factory while registered only as a responsible distribution business — possibly a trading company. That can be legitimate, but you should know who actually manufactures.
Certificates issued to a different company name or site than the one you are contracting with.
“FDA-approved cosmetics”.

7. How K-Beauty Database helps

K-Beauty Database profiles 3,984 manufacturers registered with MFDS. Each profile is built from official records — the MFDS register, NTS business status and the MFDS CGMP list — together with the company’s own website, where it has one. In Pro, every value is shown with the source it came from and the date it was checked.

Free: search by company name, or by one requirement at a time — product form, company-stated OEM/ODM, certification or region; see how many manufacturers match; reveal two matching manufacturers in total (the first without an account, the second with a free account); and read any public profile — legal name, business registration number, region, MFDS registration, CGMP listing, representative and business status.
Pro ($49/mo): every manufacturer that matches, combined requirements, full capability evidence and registered product history, manufacturing sites, sourced phone, email and website, and the records behind each claim.

Today the database lists 174 manufacturers on the MFDS CGMP list, 488 that state OEM and 456 that state ODM on their own websites, 1,485 with a company website and 2,099 with contact details on file. OEM and ODM are company statements, not verified facts — use them to build a shortlist, then verify as above.

Search the database →See what Pro includes →

Example manufacturer profiles

To show what a profile contains, here are 25 profiles drawn at random from manufacturers that have an English company name, a representative, a founding date and an active business status on record, and whose primary industry filed with DART is cosmetics manufacturing. The list is illustrative only: it is not a ranking, an endorsement, or a verification of any company’s OEM/ODM services, capabilities or current production availability.

BON COSMETICS Co.,Ltd.(주)본코스메틱
hansolbio co.,ltd한솔생명과학(주)
natuzen co., ltd.(주)나투젠
SR biotek Inc.(주)에스알바이오텍
ENPRANI CO.,LTD엔프라니 주식회사
Taeyoung Co., Ltd주식회사 태영
BEAUTYSKIN Co., Ltd.(주)뷰티스킨
JUNGCOS Co.,Ltd.주식회사 정코스
Laube Co., LTD.주식회사 라우베
KONAD CO.,LTD주식회사 코나드
MAIIM주식회사 마임
chemsfield korea co., ltd.(주)켐스필드코리아
SUANNHYANGJANG.CO,.LTD.주식회사 수안향장
Outin Futures Co., Ltd.(주)아우딘퓨쳐스
SOKY C AND T CO.,LTD(주) 소키씨앤티
AMOREPACIFIC CORP.(주)아모레퍼시픽
Yuhan Cosmetics Co., Ltd.주식회사 유한코스메틱
ABio materials Co., Ltd.주식회사 에이바이오머티리얼즈
SINDO P&G CO.,LTD.(주)신도피앤지
COSMAX NEO CO., LTD. 코스맥스네오 주식회사
C&C International Co.,Ltd.(주)씨앤씨인터내셔널
EZEKIEL COSMETIC CO.,Ltd.주식회사 에스겔코스메틱
GLISH CO.,LTD주식회사 글리쉬
GDK COSMETICS Co., Ltd지디케이화장품(주)
JOR R&D CO.,LTD.주식회사 제이오알알앤디

Sources

This guide is general information, not legal or regulatory advice. Regulations change; confirm current requirements with the official sources or a qualified adviser before you rely on them.