"Bought It Thinking It Was Made in Korea, but It's Fake?"... Cracking Down on 11 Trillion Won in Counterfeit K-Brand Goods

Scan the Mark After Scanning the QR Code to Verify Authenticity
31 Companies, Including Samyang Foods and Amorepacific, Apply for Certification Mark use

A national certification mark system has been introduced to let consumers verify the authenticity of K-brand products sold overseas using a smartphone. The initiative uses artificial intelligence (AI) digital watermark technology to identify counterfeit goods and address the sale of fake Korean products overseas.

Yonhap News Agency reported on October 10, citing the Korea Minting, Security Printing & ID Card Operating Corp. and the Ministry of Intellectual Property, that the two agencies had introduced a national certification mark for K-brands incorporating AI digital watermark technology.

Consumers can verify a product's authenticity by scanning the QR code attached to it with a smartphone and then scanning the certification mark. No separate app needs to be installed, and the authentication result is provided in 15 languages.

The certification mark incorporates a digital watermark that is difficult to identify with the naked eye. The security pattern is generated using AI and designed to be difficult to counterfeit through simple image duplication. A unique code is also assigned to each product, making it possible to detect potential counterfeiting when the same code is used repeatedly.

A mobile phone scanning the national certification mark attached to a product. Ministry of Intellectual Property

Until now, when counterfeit goods were found overseas, companies often had to prove trademark infringement locally and request enforcement action. The government plans to use the national certification mark and a system for analyzing authentication data to ease the burden on companies and respond more systematically to the distribution of counterfeit goods.

Authentication data will also be used to trace the distribution channels of counterfeit goods. The plan is to analyze consumers' authentication information to identify areas where suspected counterfeit products are being distributed and coordinate with local investigative and enforcement agencies to take action.

The technology incorporates anti-counterfeiting expertise that the Korea Minting, Security Printing & ID Card Operating Corp. has built up through the production of currency and national security documents. The government plans to use the national certification mark to help consumers overseas verify product authenticity and protect domestic companies' trademark rights and brand credibility.

So far, 31 companies, including Samyang Foods, Amorepacific and Korea Ginseng Corporation, have applied to use the national certification mark. Participating companies can attach the mark to product labels or packaging for export.

According to government data, an estimate based on a 2024 OECD report put the annual overseas distribution of counterfeit K-brand products at about $9.7 billion, equivalent to approximately 11 trillion won at the exchange rate at the time.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.