Gang Arrested for Forging Construction Safety Training Certificates and Selling Them to Illegal Immigrants
Published 05 Feb.2025 13:32(KST)
Updated 29 Jul.2025 17:08(KST)
Daejeon Police Arrest 64 Domestic and Foreign Nationals
for Forging and Selling Construction Safety Certificates
A group that forged and sold basic construction safety training certificates required for employment at construction sites to undocumented foreigners has been apprehended by the police.
The Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency’s Criminal Investigation Unit announced that they arrested three individuals, including a 38-year-old identified as A, for forging and selling basic construction safety training certificates to undocumented foreigners and those without work permits for 70,000 to 100,000 KRW per certificate. Additionally, 64 domestic and foreign individuals who brokered or purchased the forged certificates were apprehended on charges of document forgery.
A and his accomplices exploited a loophole in which once a certificate is issued, it can be used indefinitely without renewal. Although certificates issued after November 2020 include a QR code that verifies training completion, older certificates without QR codes are still accepted at construction sites. Taking advantage of this, they forged and sold the certificates.
It was also found that they posted advertisements for forged certificates on Chinese social media platforms and, upon receiving inquiries from clients, sold and delivered the forged certificates for 70,000 to 100,000 KRW each.
The Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency secured several months’ worth of posts advertising forged certificates on social media used by Chinese nationals starting around May last year. Through undercover transactions, they verified the forged certificates and apprehended the forger, A, in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province.
From computers and other devices seized at the residence, police found 269 image files of forged certificates. They identified the foreign clients and labor agency personnel who placed orders, arrested the brokers who connected them to the forgers, and analyzed bank transactions and postal delivery records, tracing criminal proceeds amounting to approximately 18.83 million KRW and securing them before indictment.
A representative from the Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency stated, "Since construction work by those who have not completed the required training poses a significant risk of safety accidents, we have requested the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency to review the qualifications of certificate holders, implement regular training, and improve related systems, such as renewing old certificates that lack QR codes and are easily forged."
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