Korea Customs Service Uncovers Illegal Import and Origin Deception of Industrial Machinery Worth 122 Billion Won

Korea Customs Service Uncovers Illegal Import and Origin Deception of Industrial Machinery Worth 122 Billion Won

Falsely reported grinder capacity and misrepresented the origin of Chinese-made steel bars

Illegal activities involving the illegal import or misrepresentation of origin of industrial machinery that could threaten public safety have been uncovered en masse.

The Korea Customs Service announced on the 3rd that it had detected 35 cases of harmful items worth 122 billion won as a result of an intensive crackdown conducted for six months from last December to this May.

The Korea Customs Service first detected 11 cases (worth 18.1 billion won) of illegally imported items harmful to industrial safety and reported them to the prosecution on charges of violating the Customs Act.

Company A was caught after falsely reporting that the hourly processing capacity of 69 imported grinders (worth 5.4 billion won) was less than 50 kg, in order to avoid self-safety confirmation reporting required by the Industrial Safety and Health Act.

Company B was apprehended for importing 161 motors equipped with explosion-proof functions (worth 1.8 billion won), which legally require safety certification, without obtaining the necessary certification.

The Korea Customs Service also detected 24 cases (worth 103.9 billion won) where the origin was falsely claimed as domestic and distributed.

Companies that intentionally changed the origin were transferred to the prosecution on charges of violating the Foreign Trade Act.

Company C was investigated to have imported Chinese-made steel bars, then only cut them, and sold 8,688 tons (worth 8.7 billion won) domestically without indicating their origin.

The Korea Customs Service explained that it selected targets for the crackdown through information gathering at industrial sites and linked analysis of import customs clearance and domestic sales data.

Kim Jeong, Director of the Investigation Bureau at the Korea Customs Service, said, "We will continue to do our best to thoroughly block the illegal import and distribution of harmful items that threaten the lives and safety of the public at industrial sites, thereby striving to create a safe society."