Ministry of the Interior and Safety to Conduct Nationwide Crackdown on 'Local Love Gift Certificate Fraud' Until the 31st

Strengthening Crackdown on Illegal Distribution through Additional Inspections and Improved Enforcement Methods

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on the 15th that it will conduct the first nationwide crackdown on the illegal distribution of local love gift certificates this year from the 16th to the 31st.

Local love gift certificates have been actively issued since 2019 to support small business owners and revitalize the local economy. Thanks to the enthusiastic response from local residents, sales have increased every year. In 2021, sales reached a record high of 23.6 trillion won, representing approximately a 77% increase compared to the 13.3 trillion won sales in 2020.

In line with this trend, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety conducted the first nationwide crackdown on local love gift certificates last year and plans to regularly conduct crackdowns twice a year, once in the first half and once in the second half, to establish a sound distribution order. Last year, 212 locations (112 in the first half, 90 in the second half) were caught during the nationwide crackdown, resulting in the cancellation of merchant registrations. Among them, 14 locations were fined 80 million won, and 70 million won of unfair profits were recovered from 88 locations.

This year, the ministry plans to strengthen crackdowns further by implementing additional inspections, expanding inspection teams, and improving inspection methods. In addition to the regular crackdowns conducted once each in the first and second halves of the year, special crackdowns will be conducted on certain local governments and industries based on the analysis of inspection results. Furthermore, considering the conditions of each local government, the size of the inspection teams will be expanded compared to last year by estimating the necessary and appropriate number of personnel to ensure thorough inspections.

Moreover, the ministry will actively utilize the ‘Abnormal Transaction Detection System’ and the ‘Illegal Distribution Reporting Center’ to improve inspection methods based on data. Additionally, focusing on ‘high-risk groups’ with a high frequency of violations, considering the distribution environment and characteristics of gift certificates in each local government, will enhance the effectiveness of the crackdowns.

During the upcoming first half regular crackdown, the ministry plans to focus on illegal receipt and unlawful exchange, restricted business types, and payment refusal acts. Depending on the judgment of each local government, inspections on overall compliance of merchants will also be conducted.

Cases of illegal distribution confirmed during the crackdown period will be subject to administrative and financial sanctions such as merchant registration cancellation, fines up to 20 million won, and recovery of unfair profits in accordance with relevant laws. In cases of serious violations such as large-scale illegal distribution, the police will be requested to investigate and strictly punish offenders.

Kim Jang-hoe, Director of the Local Finance and Economy Office, stated, “Through organic cooperation between the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and local governments, we will conduct effective crackdowns and impose strict punishments to continuously strive to eradicate cases of illegal and unfair profits obtained by abusing local love gift certificates.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.