The Trademark Judicial Police Squad (TJPS), under the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO, Commissioner Kim Ho-won), has charged 159 individuals with the production and distribution of counterfeit goods and seized 77,726 counterfeit goods (equivalent to KRW 8.4 billion worth of genuine goods) in the first six months of 2012.

Of the charged individuals, 90 were involved in wholesale or retail of the contraband; 44 were involved in online transactions; 7 were involved in production; and 18 were involved in other forms of distribution.

An analysis of the recently confiscated counterfeit goods displays the following characteristics:
- The largest portion of the counterfeit goods was found to be shoes with 42,534 pairs in total; followed by clothing with 19,870 items; bags and purses with 5,189 products; and fashion accessories including jewelry with 4,203 pieces.

- New Balance was the most common brand with 38,633 counterfeit items found. 15,085 counterfeit MLB items were also found along with 3,919 Louis Vuitton items; 3,378 Chanel items; and 2,193 pairs of TOMS shoes.

- Especially noteworthy is the dramatic increase in the diversity and number of counterfeit goods circulating the market. These items now include not only luxury brand-name purses and bags,but also running shoes and caps popular among teens, and even medications like the erectile dysfunction treatment, Via gra .Chief Pan Hyeon-gi of the TJPS-KIPO commented, “A large number of those who purchase counterfeit goods are aware that the goods they purchase are counterfeit. Most young people and teens, however, fall victim to counterfeit schemes without knowing because they try to look for luxury goods at bargain prices online.” Chief Pan added that the TJPS will continue to enhance its capacity and efforts for catching and arresting the providers of counterfeit goods in Korea in the remaining months of the year to protect the public against the reach of such goods.