Fake Goods Market Ridicules Police Control

The police designated late April to late June as a “special control period” following the government ministries’ “intellectual rights violation prevention move,” including the Ministry of Justice. Following this, manufacturers of fake goods are being spotted in large numbers recently.

However, despite the special control, the fake goods market is still prosperous.

Customers for Bluff, Dealers for Cash Market—

Ms. Ahn (25), who buys fake goods regularly, confessed, “I buy fakes because although I want to own the real product, they are too expensive for me.”

Mrs. Kim (32), who bought a 100,000-won fake bag, argued, “It costs about 300,000 won in department stores. Everybody believes it to be real although it is not, so what is the point of buying real products at an expensive price?”

On the other side of the coin, there exist permanent manufacturers who have experienced difficulties due to an extreme stagnant domestic demand.

Fake goods special merchant, Mr. Lee (47) said, “Much more profit is gained by selling one fake than by selling several real brands.”

It only costs 15,000 to 20,000 won to produce a normal-sized fake bag. This number is enough as they use different fabrics and poor handcraft work. Dealers sell these at half the price of that of the real products’, thus gaining profits of ten times or higher.

Furthermore, as they are sold on the black market, payment is by cash only. Police said, “Manufacturers who were caught for brand law violation argued that they have to sell fake goods for cash in this depressed economy.”

Ten Trillion Won Worth of Fakes is Nothing—

Police caught 799 manufacturers for brand law violation from April 26 to May 29. It is more than 40 percent of the last year’s entire figure of 1,910.

The National Police Agency said, “The U.S. designated Korea as an intellectual rights supervision country and EU’s commerce pressure is expected, thus government level threat consciousness is at the highest. However, no signs of repentance are seen even during the control period.”

Police Sergeant Kim said, “Fake goods specialists can make 10 trillion won worth of fake products in one to two years. Korea, together with Hong Kong, is seen as the leaders of fake goods.”

Korean Industrial Property’s Choi Byeong-yong said, “Fake brands are flooding in so that it matches the real brand market. This causes a negative effect when negotiating commerce trade with foreign countries.”