How Did 314kg of Gold Bars Get Smuggled via Couriers? Middleman Fined 13.6 Billion Won

Received 600,000 Won for Each Successful Smuggling Attempt
Captured After Eight Years on the Run

A middleman who was put on trial for recruiting couriers to smuggle gold bars and managing them has been sentenced to prison and ordered to pay a fine in the tens of billions of won.

On January 4, the 14th Criminal Division of the Incheon District Court (Presiding Judge Son Seungbeom) announced that it had sentenced Mr. A (68), who was indicted on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (Taxation), to five years in prison and a fine of 13,611,240,000 won (approximately 13.6 billion won). The court also ordered Mr. A to forfeit 15,110,100,000 won (approximately 15.1 billion won).

Employees are unveiling smuggled gold at the Export and Import Customs Clearance Building of Incheon Airport Customs in Jung-gu, Incheon. Photo by Kang Jinhyung

Smuggling of Gold Bars Worth 14.6 Billion Won

Mr. A was indicted for hiring 32 couriers between September 2015 and January 2017 to smuggle 314 kilograms of gold bars, worth approximately 14.6 billion won, from China to Incheon International Airport on 53 occasions. He was also charged with smuggling 10 kilograms of gold bars, valued at about 500 million won, from Incheon International Airport to Japan through 10 couriers in May 2016.

Mr. A instructed the couriers, whom he recruited through acquaintances, to conceal the gold bars in their rectums before boarding the aircraft. It was found that he paid each courier a fee of 600,000 won per successful smuggling attempt.

The court stated, "Even by Mr. A's own admission, the profit he gained from the smuggling operations specified in the verdict amounts to 31.8 million won (600,000 won x 53 occasions), which is a substantial sum. Considering the overall process of the crime and the consistent statements of the couriers, it is likely that Mr. A gained much more than this amount."

The court further explained, "The domestic market value of the gold bars smuggled in and out by Mr. A through the employment of couriers is extremely high, making the illegality of the crime very serious. In addition, it was taken into account as an aggravating factor that Mr. A fled and remained in hiding for over eight years after the customs investigation began, resulting in the exclusion of offenses for which the statute of limitations had expired from the indictment."

Gold Smuggling Driven by Price Gap with International Market

Meanwhile, the smuggling of gold bars is attributed to the so-called "Kimchi Premium" phenomenon, in which gold prices in Korea are higher than those overseas. In recent years, the domestic price of gold has been 10-20% higher than the international market price, leading to increased attempts to profit from the price difference through smuggling. Even simply transporting gold bars can be prosecuted as smuggling, so caution is advised.