Trademark Police Arrest Mastermind Who Sold Billions of Won Worth of Counterfeits via Overseas 'Live Stream'

[Financial News] The mastermind of an organization that sold billions of won worth of counterfeit goods domestically through live broadcasts in Vietnam has been arrested by the Trademark Police following an international joint investigation.
The Ministry of Intellectual Property's Special Judicial Police for Trademarks announced that they had arrested A (32), the mastermind who fled to Vietnam and distributed counterfeit goods by recruiting and operating a sales organization including YouTubers there, on charges of violating the Trademark Act, and had booked three accomplices, including B (42), in Korea without detention.
This case is the first instance since the launch of the Trademark Police in September 2010 in which a suspect selling counterfeit goods who fled overseas to evade a crackdown was apprehended locally and repatriated through international cooperation, including an International Criminal Police Organization Red Notice.
According to the investigation, A, who had been distributing counterfeit goods domestically, fled to Vietnam in May of last year as the crackdown tightened. It was revealed that for one year, until May of this year, he conspired with domestic and overseas YouTubers to sell counterfeit goods to domestic consumers through overseas guerrilla-style live broadcasts.
A initially continued his criminal activities by supplying counterfeit goods to domestic YouTuber B and others and training them in sales techniques, but changed his modus operandi in July of this year when the Trademark Police raided the offices of his accomplices in the Gyeonggi area. A recruited about 10 local YouTubers in Vietnam to form a new sales organization known as the "00 Alliance" and continuously recruited sellers by offering local accommodation and meals and promising high profits.
The Trademark Police seized approximately 8,000 counterfeit items, including bags and clothing, with a genuine retail value of 3.7 billion won, through searches and seizures of the accomplices' offices. After confirming A's flight overseas, they worked closely with the International Criminal Police Organization, prosecutors and police, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Vietnam, and Vietnamese investigative agencies, taking measures to invalidate his passport and issue a Red Notice. Ultimately, A was arrested in Vietnam in May of this year and forcibly repatriated to Korea on the 5th of last month.
Deputy Minister Jeong Yeon-woo of the Ministry of Intellectual Property said, "This case is a representative example of tracking down and arresting a mastermind who fled overseas," adding, "Going forward, we will not stop at simple sellers but will thoroughly track and crack down on suppliers and higher-level distribution organizations."
Meanwhile, the counterfeit goods distribution market has recently been rapidly shifting away from traditional offline illicit transactions and simple shopping mall formats, instead centering on social networking services (SNS) and real-time interactive live commerce platforms. "Guerrilla-style broadcasting," which involves immediately deleting videos after a broadcast or using pseudonymous accounts, is being exploited to evade law enforcement and to sell large quantities at once to young consumers accustomed to real-time communication.

[email protected] Kim Won-jun Reporter