The encyclopedia · Product & Design · Product decision · 2024–2026
New Balance Korea printed the Korean flag wrong on a t-shirt — sales halted, full refund
New Balance Korea sold a Seoul-collection tee with a distorted Taegeukgi, then apologized and halted sales with a full refund after it read as political.
New Balance Korea · 2026-07-24
What happened
New Balance Korea developed the 'Geongon-Gamni exclusive short-sleeve tee' as part of a Seoul collection meant to showcase Korean and Seoul charm to domestic and foreign customers. Design began on August 21, 2024, and sales ran from January 21, 2026.
The t-shirt carried a taeguk design on the chest that was printed the reverse of the real Korean flag. Consumers and campaigners flagged it, and the error read to some as a political statement.
On July 24, 2026 New Balance Korea apologized on its homepage and halted online and offline sales, offering full refunds regardless of purchase channel. The company said the design was not intended to carry any political or ideological message and promised to prevent a recurrence at the planning and production stage.
Why it happened
- A national symbol was misrendered and nobody caught the error before the product reached sale.
- A brand line that trades on national identity put a national symbol on a product without verifying how it would be read.
- Launching the product at all turned a design error into a public political controversy that forced a recall.
The lesson
A symbol that carries national or political weight has to be verified for how it reads, not just how it looks — one wrong color turned a tourism line into a national controversy.
Aftermath
New Balance Korea withdrew the product, apologized on its homepage, and said the design carried no political or ideological intent. The episode was flagged by a campaigner professor and repeated across national media, and the recalled t-shirt was removed from sale channels.
Sources
- Yonhap — New Balance halts sales of t-shirt with wrong taeguk pattern (Jul 2026)
- Money Today — 'Why is the Taegeukgi like this' New Balance t-shirt controversy, sales halted and refunds (Jul 2026)
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