Over 9,000 Counterfeit Items Seized This Year
"Consumer Damages Snowballing"
Jinwook Jung: "Global Platforms Are a Blind Spot... Call for Tailored Tracking"
Jinwook Jung, member of the Democratic Party of Korea.
The sale of counterfeit goods through live broadcasts (commonly referred to as "live commerce") has surged rapidly this year, resulting in a growing number of consumer damages. In particular, sales have been prominent on overseas-based platforms such as YouTube and TikTok, drawing criticism over the government authorities' inadequate response system.
According to data submitted by Assemblyman Jinwook Jung (Gwangju Dongnam-gap) of the Democratic Party of Korea to the Korean Intellectual Property Office on October 1, over the past five years (from 2020 to August 2025), there have been 20 cases of counterfeit goods sold through live commerce broadcasts, leading to the apprehension of 28 sellers and the seizure of 10,912 items. The critical issue is that 13 of these cases-accounting for a striking 65% (21 sellers, 9,097 items)-were uncovered just this year. This indicates that the primary channel for distributing counterfeit goods has shifted to live commerce platforms.
Some detected cases involved sales reaching hundreds of millions of Korean won. In a 2022 Facebook live broadcast case, counterfeit goods worth 235.03 million won were traded, while in a YouTube live broadcast case in July this year, the amount reached 172.23 million won.
By platform, YouTube accounted for the largest number of sellers at 13, followed by TikTok with 10, Facebook with 3, and Instagram with 2. Of the 28 apprehended sellers, 27 were domestic, and the seized items were mainly everyday goods such as clothing and bags. Based on the genuine product prices, the estimated damage from these counterfeit goods is expected to reach several billion Korean won.
The Korean Intellectual Property Office explained that the increase in crackdowns this year was due to strengthened special investigations. However, this also demonstrates that reports from consumers and rights holders have risen sharply. Ultimately, the reality is that the distribution of counterfeit goods through live commerce is expanding rapidly, going beyond the issue of enforcement intensity.
Assemblyman Jung stated, "The distribution of counterfeit goods is not only an infringement of intellectual property but also a crime that threatens consumer safety and the integrity of distribution channels. In particular, YouTube was detected for the first time this year, yet the scale of the crackdown was the largest. It is impossible to estimate how many counterfeits were distributed before the crackdown began."
The Korean Intellectual Property Office has signed agreements with domestic platforms to eradicate counterfeit goods, but global platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram-which have been at the center of recent issues-are not included in these agreements.
Assemblyman Jung emphasized, "Global platforms are now the main stage for live commerce counterfeit sales, yet there is not even a basic cooperation system in place, creating a clear blind spot. Now that the Korean Intellectual Property Office has been elevated to an agency-level organization, it must establish a cooperation system that includes global platforms, develop tailored tracking systems by country and product, and implement measures to prevent consumer damages."
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