From Counterfeit Luxury Goods to Zangmang Loopy: Over 4.1 Million Counterfeit Items Caught in Two Months

Over a period of about two months, approximately 4.1 million counterfeit goods infringing on intellectual property rights have been caught in customs crackdowns.

The Korea Customs Service announced today (July 29) that as a result of operating a "special crackdown period for intellectual property-infringing goods" from May 4 to June 30, it blocked 452,927 counterfeit items at the customs clearance stage and investigated 14 intellectual property infringement crimes, uncovering approximately 3.65 million counterfeit goods.

The number of counterfeit goods caught at the customs clearance stage increased 2.5 times compared to the same period last year (about 177,000 items), accounting for 38% of last year's annual crackdown performance (about 1.17 million items).

By category, toys and stationery accounted for the largest share at 41.7%, followed by clothing (26.4%), personal accessories (8.9%), and bags (6.2%).

Most of the confiscated items were foreign brands, but counterfeit K-brand goods, including domestic characters, cosmetics, and bags, were also included.

In the investigation of intellectual property infringement crimes, approximately 3.65 million counterfeit items with an estimated genuine market value of 153 billion won were uncovered.

This is 7 times the scale detected during the same period last year (21.4 billion won).

In a major case, an apparel importer was arrested for manufacturing, importing, and distributing domestically approximately 3.52 million items (worth 1.247 billion won in market value), such as clothing, bags, and hats, by unauthorized use of copyrighted works whose exclusive use contracts had expired.

Additionally, a distributor was caught taking orders through online live broadcasts targeting locals in the Philippines, shipping counterfeit luxury bags via international mail, and storing counterfeit goods intended for export.

A ring that smuggled counterfeit luxury brand clothing from Cambodia and sold them as genuine products on online shopping malls was also arrested.

(Photo provided by Korea Customs Service, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.