It turns out that American chips worth 1.5 billion yen were smuggled from South Korea to China
The South Korean government has indicted a domestic company for smuggling 96,000 semiconductors into China, where exports of American semiconductors are severely restricted. According to the investigation, semiconductors worth 13.9 billion won (approximately 1.5 billion yen) were transported without being declared to customs.
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According to local customs authorities, a domestic trading company imported semiconductor integrated circuits from the United States for domestic use and then smuggled them into China. The investigation revealed that 96,000 semiconductors worth 13.9 billion won were smuggled through this company. Furthermore, it was discovered that 53,000 of these items were classified as 'strategic items' designated by the South Korean government. Strategic items designated by the government in 2020 are restricted from being imported or exported without government permission because they could be used to manufacture weapons of mass destruction.
Authorities announced that they had arrested and indicted a trading company executive on suspicion of violating the Foreign Trade Act, the Customs Act, and the Act on Control of Concealment of Criminal Proceeds, and referred the case to the Seoul Central District Public Prosecutors Office.
Typically, semiconductors manufactured by manufacturers headquartered in the United States are supplied domestically only through authorized distributors in South Korea, and distribution management requires a certificate from the distributor and a non-re-export pledge. Therefore, it would have been impossible for a third party like the company indicted to obtain the semiconductors.
According to the investigation, in order to avoid these regulations, the company in question had a domestic communication equipment development company import more IC chips than necessary through an authorized Korean distributor, and secretly obtained the surplus. It appears that the IC chips were repackaged in small quantities and shipped to China, disguised as sample products, without obtaining export permission from the relevant government agency.
The United States has placed restrictions on domestic semiconductor companies' exports to China, and the South Korean government has also imposed its own restrictions on exports to China. According to authorities, this case is ``the first confirmed case of South Korea being used as a transit point for exporting foreign semiconductors to China.''
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