Cancer-Causing Substance Discovered in Fake Earrings from China

| The Korean Customs Service, announcing the results of an intensive crackdown.

On the 23rd, Ha Chun-ho, the head of the Customs Surveillance Bureau of Incheon Customs, is announcing the results of an intensive crackdown on intellectual property rights at Seoul Customs. Photo provided by the Korea Customs Service

The Korea Customs Service announced on the 23rd that it has seized 142,930 counterfeit items, also known as ‘knock-offs,’ that infringe on intellectual property rights.

By country, the most infringed items came from China, with 89,000 items (62.3%). Among them, earrings, bags, watches, and other items that directly contact the skin were analyzed, and some products contained lead and cadmium up to 930 times the safety standard. Counterfeit earrings of luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Dior, and Chanel were detected with cadmium in 20 out of 24 products (83%), and three of them also exceeded the standard for lead. Out of the 20 earrings where cadmium was detected, 15 had cadmium content more than 600 times the standard, and one product even reached 930 times the standard. It was not simply that cadmium was used for surface treatment, but it was used as a main component during manufacturing.

The seized items from this crackdown also included 462 products from 9 Korean companies such as Kakao (keychains) and Samsung (earphones). The damage from intellectual property infringement is not limited to overseas luxury brands but also affects Korean domestic brands that have recently gained popularity overseas.