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Four people were arrested and referred to prosecutors for violating trademark laws, Chosunbiz reported, citing information released by the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) on June 19.
The office’s special judicial police for trademark said one of them, a 42-year-old wholesaler, is suspected to have distributed more than 87,000 counterfeit cosmetics bearing luxury brand names such as SK-II, Kiehl’s and Estée Lauder and made profits of 2.1 billion won (US$1.5 million) between April 2023 and March 2024.
The fake items, if genuine, would be worth around 7.9 billion won.
He sold them to distributors and through home shopping channels, claiming they were genuine.
The products’ containers, labels and packaging were so meticulously forged that even distributors who specialize in cosmetics found it difficult to spot them, according to Maeil Business Newspaper.
The crime was only detected when some distributors attempted to export the fake items overseas.
The police said the wholesaler managed imports and sales of the counterfeits while another suspect, 40, handled the documentation for the imports. The other two, aged 43 and 38, were involved in distributing the goods.
Authorities have worked with the brands to analyze the seized items and found that their chemical composition did not match that of genuine products.
No toxic substances were detected, but the counterfeit products did not meet quality standards and were described as akin to plain water.
For instance, a fake SK-II essence was found to contain no niacinamide, which helps whiten skin, while a counterfeit Estée Lauder serum contained less substance than indicated on the label.
The fakes were sold at just a third of the prices of genuine items.
Shin Sang-gon, director general of KIPO’s Intellectual Property Protection and International Cooperation Bureau, said: "It is very difficult for ordinary consumers to distinguish counterfeits from real products, especially when it comes to everyday consumer goods like cosmetics.
"Therefore, extra caution should be taken when purchasing unusually low-priced items, and it is advisable to buy from official retailers."
He added that his agency would step up investigations to eliminate counterfeit products.
