Kwanghyo Ko, Commissioner of Korea Customs Service, "Strengthening Crackdown on Illegal and Harmful Items in Overseas Direct Purchases"

Ko Gwang-hyo, Commissioner of the Korea Customs Service, stated on the 30th, “We will focus our customs capabilities on blocking the import of illegal and harmful overseas direct purchase goods taking advantage of China’s Singles’ Day and the U.S. Black Friday.”

According to the Korea Customs Service, the total volume of overseas direct purchases imported into the country increased more than twofold from 63.675 million cases in 2020 to 131.443 million cases last year. In particular, from January to September this year, 131.643 million cases of overseas direct purchases were imported into the country, already surpassing the total volume for the entire previous year. This is attributed to the expansion of overseas direct purchases through Chinese e-commerce into daily necessities.

Considering that large-scale overseas discount events such as Singles’ Day and Black Friday are concentrated every November, the volume of overseas direct purchases is expected to increase significantly this year. The volume of overseas direct purchases around Singles’ Day and Black Friday accounts for about 30% of the total annual volume.

Recently, there has also been a clear shift in the main countries of overseas direct purchases from the U.S. to China. In 2019, overseas direct purchases originating from the U.S. accounted for 45% of the total, the largest share, but now, with the growth of platforms like AliExpress and Temu, the share of China-origin overseas direct purchases has risen to 70%.

The problem is that the import of illegal and harmful goods exploiting overseas direct purchases has also increased. The Korea Customs Service detected a total of 143 cases (related to customs, intellectual property rights, drugs, and health violations) exploiting overseas direct purchases through crackdowns from January to September this year, with an import value reaching 60.8 billion KRW. This represents an increase of 7 cases and 6.8 billion KRW compared to the same period last year.

To prevent such abuses of overseas direct purchases, the Korea Customs Service will conduct a special crackdown from the 28th of this month to the 29th of next month. Commissioner Ko emphasized, “During the special crackdown period, the Korea Customs Service will operate a ‘Public-Private Joint Special Customs Clearance Task Force’ involving special courier companies and bonded cargo managers to support smooth customs clearance while responding with full force to block the import of illegal and harmful goods through continuous monitoring.”

He added, “In particular, to respond to abuses exploiting the peak season of overseas direct purchases, we will focus on cracking down on express shipments originating from high-risk countries. The main targets of the crackdown include daily necessities closely related to public safety such as food and pharmaceuticals, miscellaneous goods, and electronic products.”

He further stated, “Goods imported for purposes other than personal use, such as for sale or distribution within the country, must be declared to customs and pay duties regardless of price. If the goods fall under categories requiring approval or other conditions under domestic individual laws, it is essential to meet those requirements.”

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