SEJONG, South Korea’s customs agency said Tuesday it has detected 8.2 trillion won (US$6.31 billion) worth of illegal trade activities, such as smuggling and violations of foreign currency rules.
The amount marks a sharp rise from just 3.2 trillion won tallied a year earlier, according to the Korea Customs Service (KCS). The number of cases came to 1,983, slightly down from the previous year’s 2,062, it added.
The figure is based on violations of 21 laws designated by the customs office, including the Foreign Exchange Transactions Act and the Narcotics Control Act.
The KCS said the latest spike came as it has detected 15 major violations of foreign currency transaction rules involving cryptocurrencies, valued at 5.6 trillion won.
In 2022, the customs office busted 787.9 billion won worth of tariff evasions, along with drug-smuggling activities of 60 billion won.
Source: Yonhap News Agency