Illegal Foreign Exchange Transactions Exceed KRW 7 Trillion Amid Fluctuating Exchange Rates

In the first half of this year, illegal foreign exchange transactions exceeding 7 trillion won were uncovered, involving the illicit outflow of foreign currency from the country or the failure to bring in foreign currency that should have been brought back home.

The Korea Customs Service announced that, as a result of a focused crackdown on illegal foreign transactions that negatively impact foreign exchange liquidity, it detected 792 cases of illegal foreign exchange transactions totaling 7.2 trillion won during the first half of the year.

The targets of the crackdown included not only direct illegal outflows of foreign currency, but also hwalchigi (illegal underground money transfers) and illegal trade settlements using virtual assets, which weaken foreign currency inflows and interfere with the monitoring by foreign exchange authorities.

One company included in the crackdown took out a loan of 10.8 billion won from a domestic credit institution, lent it to a local corporation in Cambodia, and made a profit by purchasing and reselling land.

Under the law at the time, the profits should have been repaid to the institution, but the company deposited them into overseas accounts under family names, leading to suspicions of illegally spiriting assets out of the country.

An overseas remittance provider received requests using virtual accounts issued under third-party names and illegally remitted the equivalent of 2.5 trillion won overseas, exceeding legal limits.

There was also a case where 90 billion won in used car export proceeds was received in virtual assets, failing to bring the foreign currency into the domestic market as required.

The Korea Customs Service stated that as the high exchange rate situation exacerbates economic difficulties, it will conduct thorough crackdowns on activities that disturb the exchange rate.

[Voice / Park Heon, Deputy Commissioner of the Korea Customs Service: We will mobilize all of the Korea Customs Service's capabilities to crack down on illegal foreign exchange transactions strictly, and furthermore, we will strive to establish a fair foreign exchange transaction order throughout the import and export industry.]

The Korea Customs Service plans to select and reward the Seoul Customs and Incheon Customs teams that uncovered numerous types of illegal transactions aligned with the purpose of this crackdown as excellent apprehension teams.

Reported by Hong Yeongjae | Video by Yoon Tae-ho | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.