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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] DAEJEON, South Korea — The Korea Customs Service (KCS) announced on the 12th a comprehensive plan to monitor and crack down on illegal foreign exchange transactions by exporting and importing companies. The move aims to block attempts to exploit high exchange rates through the intentional delay of payments or the illicit tunneling of assets overseas.
Intensive Audit of 1,138 Discrepant Companies During a national meeting of foreign exchange investigation officials held at the Government Complex Daejeon, the KCS revealed it will conduct audits on 1,138 companies showing significant discrepancies between reported import/export values and actual banking transactions.
Target Breakdown: 62 conglomerates, 424 mid-sized enterprises, and 652 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The KCS will prioritize audits for high-risk firms by cross-referencing trade performance with financial transaction data.
Zero Tolerance for Three Major Violations To stabilize the exchange market, the KCS will maintain a year-round crackdown on three major illicit activities:
Uncollected Export Proceeds: Intentionally leaving payments in overseas accounts.
Irregular Trade Settlements: Manipulating payment methods to bypass regulations.
Overseas Asset Flight: Illegally moving domestic wealth abroad for personal gain.
A specialized "High Exchange Rate Response Task Force (TF)" has been established to oversee these operations. The TF consists of a central command team for information analysis and 24 specialized investigation teams across national customs offices.
The Economic Necessity of Monitoring The urgency follows a record-breaking gap of $290.0 billion (approx. 427 trillion KRW) between trade payments and customs declarations recorded from January to November last year—the largest in five years. As trade payments account for over 40% of Korea's total foreign currency inflow, such discrepancies significantly hinder foreign exchange circulation and exacerbate currency volatility.
Recent Enforcement Results The KCS highlighted the effectiveness of its recent audits, noting that 97% of the 104 companies investigated last year were caught in illegal transactions, totaling 2.2 trillion KRW.
Case A: A multimodal transport firm failed to repatriate shipping fees, using the funds to settle overseas debts without notifying authorities.
Case B: A global PC game supplier paid "power users" for promotional services using in-game currency without the required foreign exchange reporting.
"We will act as a guardian of national wealth," a KCS official stated. "Any act that undermines the stability of our foreign exchange market or involves the illegal outflow of assets will face stern legal consequences."
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
