"200 Billion Won Worth of 'Counterfeits' Seized in Myeongdong, Targeting Only Foreigners in Secret Spaces"

Merchants selling counterfeit goods to foreign tourists in Myeongdong have been caught. They showed meticulousness in evading crackdowns by setting up separate secret spaces inside their shops to display counterfeit products and luring foreign tourists through solicitation.

Counterfeit goods such as watches seized during a crackdown by trademark police in the Myeongdong tourist area are displayed. Provided by the Korean Intellectual Property Office

The Korea Intellectual Property Office's Special Trademark Police (hereinafter referred to as Trademark Police) announced on the 20th that they have booked eight people, including Mr. A (53), without detention on charges of violating the Trademark Act.

According to the Trademark Police, Mr. A and others are suspected of selling counterfeit goods such as bags, clothing, and wallets to foreign tourists at shops around the Myeongdong tourist area.

The Trademark Police conducted a focused crackdown on the Myeongdong tourist street from the 13th to 14th and on the 24th of last month, seizing a total of 3,554 counterfeit items from six shops. The retail value of the seized counterfeit goods is estimated at around 20 billion KRW.

Investigations revealed that Mr. A and others hired touts (commonly called "ppigi") to lure foreign tourists into the stores, where they sold high-grade counterfeit products such as SA-grade and mirror-grade items in secret spaces inside the shops.

SA-grade and mirror-grade are slang terms referring to counterfeit products that are of high quality or made so precisely that they are difficult to distinguish from genuine products, as if reflected in a mirror.

Counterfeit goods such as bags found in a secret space separately created inside a store on Myeongdong tourist street. Provided by the Korean Intellectual Property Office

To avoid crackdowns, Mr. A and others operated by keeping the store doors closed during normal times and only opening them to sell counterfeit goods when the touts had lured customers inside, then closing the doors again. The touts targeted only foreign female tourists.

In particular, the Trademark Police explained that from the beginning, a secret space separate from the general sales area was created and used when decorating the stores.

The Trademark Police plan to continue crackdowns considering that the Myeongdong tourist street has become a must-visit shopping destination for foreign tourists and that counterfeit goods transactions targeting foreign tourists are being conducted secretly.

Shin Sang-gon, Director of the Industrial Property Protection Cooperation Bureau at the Korea Intellectual Property Office, said, “The sale of counterfeit goods is a serious crime that infringes on others' property rights. To eradicate the distribution of counterfeit goods, we plan to strengthen on-site crackdowns while simultaneously conducting planned investigations into manufacturing and distribution channels.”