Korea’s largest e-commerce operator eBay Korea on Sunday vowed to continue leading cross-border trade by boosting support to small-scale domestic merchants to advance into the global market.

“The online export market is expected to grow further as hallyu, or Korean wave, is spreading globally, and with the impact of free trade agreements,” said Koo Ja-hyun, director of business planning at eBay Korea.

“We will help small sellers in Korea with unlimited potential to enter the global markets without significant difficulties,” he said.

The company’s remark came after Trade Minister Joo Hyung-hwan visited eBay Korea’s overseas logistics center in Incheon on Jan. 21. The center deals with 300,000 orders a month through Gmarket and eBay.

“Minister Joo emphasized his willingness to support export through B2C (business-to-consumer) e-commerce and listened to the difficulties faced by people in the industry,” an eBay Korea spokesman said.

EBay Korea was among the first companies to seek exports through e-commerce. Gmarket opened its English-language website in 2006, followed by a Chinese outlet in 2013. In May 2015, the company launched mobile applications for its English and Chinese services.

It is also holding the eBay Export Star Competition to nurture the next generation of cross-border merchants and provides various support measures, including training sessions and payment tools including PayPal and credit cards.

EBay Korea reported a 40 percent increase in sales volume between 2014 and 2015.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)