Temu, a subsidiary of Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo, appears to be preparing for its direct entry into the South Korean market, according to Yonhap News Agency.

Monday's report said Temu has been recruiting employees in South Korea since the end of last year, covering core positions such as personnel, general affairs, marketing and logistics.

Temu is also preparing to set up an integrated logistics system in South Korea and is considering signing up with major logistics companies through open bidding.

The industry believes that Temu's recent measures are similar to the strategy of Alibaba's AliExpress in laying out the Korean market, and can be seen as accelerating the localization of operations or formally entering the Korean market in the preparatory stage.

Temu launched its South Korean website in July 2023, focusing on cross-border e-commerce business, and set up a South Korean branch, Whaleco Korea LLC, in February last year.

As of last month, Temu had 8.23 million monthly active users (MAUs) in South Korea, second only to local Coupang and AliExpress.