Byun Chae-eun, a Korea Customs Service (KCS) officer, inspects a suspected counterfeit Korean beauty product shipped from abroad through specific cargo at Incheon Worldwide Airport, Monday. Courtesy of Incheon Airport Regional Customs
Byun Chae-eun, 28, a fourth-year officer on the Korea Customs Service (KCS), has distinguished herself within the struggle in opposition to counterfeit Korean cosmetics, serving to to safeguard the worldwide popularity of Ok-beauty.
She performed a key position in a landmark crackdown, uncovering 22,339 pretend Korean skincare gadgets despatched from China to Korea through specific cargo, together with imitations of common manufacturers resembling Sulwhasoo, KAHI and d’Alba.
The operation was carried out by KCS’ Incheon Airport Regional Customs from June to November at Korea’s principal gateway, which handles over 60 % of imported specific cargo.
This delivery methodology has been more and more exploited to carry knockoffs of common Korean manufacturers into the nation, with counterfeit merchandise slipping into home well being and sweetness shops or being resold abroad.
Byun Chae-eun, a Korea Customs Service (KCS) officer, speaks throughout an Incheon Airport Regional Customs group assembly, Monday. Courtesy of Incheon Airport Regional Customs
“I really feel proud that my work has contributed, even in a small method, to enhancing world belief in Ok-beauty,” Byun mentioned in a latest interview with The Korea Occasions. “On the similar time, it’s rewarding to understand that doing my finest in my position helps defend our home industries.”
The crackdown started lower than six months after she had joined a customs group chargeable for safeguarding mental property rights.
“The job was demanding,” she mentioned, noting that her group inspected greater than 30,000 suspected high-risk shipments.
Regardless of the problem, they achieved a powerful 86 % success fee in detecting counterfeit gadgets.
Byun defined that KCS has been paying higher consideration to pretend cosmetics, whereas previously counterfeit items had been principally restricted to luxurious model luggage or clothes.
The operation was prompted by the invention of numerous counterfeit midrange cosmetics from Korean manufacturers generally bought in home drugstores.
Byun emphasised that stopping low-quality counterfeit merchandise from being bought domestically or abroad is very essential, as such gadgets will be mistaken for real merchandise whereas containing untested and doubtlessly dangerous substances.3
“Since cosmetics are utilized on to the physique, counterfeit merchandise with unknown substances are significantly harmful. For that cause, I focus my efforts on evaluation and inspections to detect as many counterfeit cosmetics as doable,” she mentioned.
Byun has stood out since her first yr at KCS in 2022, incomes the highest rookie award for a serious drug seizure whereas working in traveler customs.
With steerage from senior officers on recognizing high-risk vacationers, she intercepted a passenger carrying unlawful medicine — artificial hashish and MDMA — of their carry-on baggage.
“I attribute this achievement to my colleagues and the assist of my supervisors, which made this consequence doable,” Byun mentioned.
