A Single Bag Costs 'Hundreds of Thousands of Won'... Here's Why Chanel Bags Are Seen Often

934 Billion KRW Worth of Intellectual Property Rights Infringements Detected in First Half of Year
70% Are Bags... Apparel and Textiles Account for 21%

In the first half of this year, 84% of imported goods caught by customs authorities for intellectual property rights infringement were found to be of Chinese origin. Among the so-called counterfeit imports, items imitating the Chanel brand accounted for the largest amount.

On the 15th, Yonhap News cited data received by Park Seong-hoon, a member of the People Power Party, from the Korea Customs Service, reporting that the scale of imported goods caught at the border stage for intellectual property rights infringement from the beginning of this year until June was 93.4 billion KRW (34 cases). Counterfeit imports from China amounted to 78.1 billion KRW (24 cases), accounting for 83.6% of the total detected cases. Last year, the majority of the total amount of intellectual property rights infringement goods detected (371.3 billion KRW) was also Chinese-made, accounting for 95.4% (354.1 billion KRW).

By brand, Chanel accounted for 52.1% (48.7 billion KRW) of counterfeit goods in the first half of this year, exceeding half. It was followed by Goyard (7.5 billion KRW), Louis Vuitton (4.1 billion KRW), and Gucci (2.0 billion KRW). By product category, bags were the most common at 65.3 billion KRW, accounting for 69.9%, followed by clothing and textiles at 19.6 billion KRW (21.0%).

Representative Park emphasized, "Along with the increase in overseas direct purchases, the illegal distribution of counterfeit Chinese products infringing intellectual property rights is also on the rise," adding, "To prevent consumer damage from mistaking these for genuine products and to protect the economic interests of domestic and foreign companies, a more thorough crackdown network must be established starting at the border stage."

Counterfeit Chanel and Louis Vuitton bags seized by customs. / Incheon - Photo by Kim Hyunmin kimhyun81@

Earlier this year, the Korea Customs Service announced that it had intensively cracked down on imported goods entering the country during November last year, detecting 142,930 counterfeit items infringing intellectual property rights. Clothing was the most common with 57,000 items (40.2%), followed by stationery (23,000 items, 16.4%) and accessories (20,000 items, 14.1%). By country, China accounted for 89,000 items (62.3%), Hong Kong 39,000 items (27.5%), and Vietnam 14,000 items (10.0%).

Cancer-causing substances were even detected in counterfeit goods. Among 24 counterfeit luxury brand earrings imitating Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Dior, etc., cadmium was detected in 20 products (83%), and among these, 3 also exceeded the standard for lead. Lead can severely affect the development of the brain, nervous system, and other essential organs, posing particular risks to children, potentially causing lower IQ and hyperactivity.