1.34 million counterfeit goods imported to Korea in 2023, gov't says

Koreans purchased over 1.34 million counterfeit goods from China in 2023, with most using express cargo for direct overseas purchases.

Customs officials examine counterfeit goods confiscated at the Incheon Regional Customs office in November 2023. [YONHAP]

Koreans bought home more than 1.34 million counterfeit goods from overseas last year, with more than 97 percent coming from China, according to a government report published Thursday.

A total of 85,247 cases of counterfeit good shipments to Korea were registered by customs in 2023, the Korea Customs Service said in its annual statistics report on intellectual property infringement control.

Notably, 81.6 percent of the cases, or a total of 69,525, were filed in the express cargo division, in which the majority of items are direct overseas purchases. The number of counterfeit products among those shipments totaled 34,300 in 2023, an on-year increase of 197.8 percent.

The customs service attributed the figure to an increase in the purchase and cross-border shipping of knockoff goods.

Of the total filed cases, 83,892 were for trademark infringement while 1,310 cases violated patent and design IP rights.

A total of 82,822 cases were filed regarding counterfeit shipments from China, amounting to 97.2 percent, while 1.8 percent of shipments came from Vietnam and 0.2 percent came from Thailand.

The shipments included 1.34 million goods in total, amounting to 257.7 tons in weight. Bags took up the largest portion of the uncovered items, accounting for 44.1 percent, while shoes, clothing and electronics made up 20.9 percent, 10.9 percent and 5.8 percent of the knockoff products.

BY KIM JU-YEON [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]