Customs officials in Japan seized 1.04 million counterfeit goods items in 2009, according to Finance Ministry. The total amount seized was up 10.6 percent from the previous year.

86 percent of the counterfeit items originated from China, followed by 6 percent from South Korea.

The most counterfeited good was counterfeit purses, which accounted for 55 percent of all goods seized.

Source:  “Pirated goods halted by customs in 2009 top 1 million,” Japan Today, March 13, 2010.

South Korea’s National Human Rights Commission found that 20 percent of women in refugee camps bribes North Korean guards with either sex or money in order to defect from the country.

Source:  AFP, “N.Korea women refugees suffer abuse: watchdog,” Google News, February 22, 2010.

According to a survey of 8,500 people in 13 countries, people in China illegally downloaded the most music in 2009, followed by South Korea.

Source: “Korea World’s No.2 in Online Music Piracy,” Chosun Ilbo, January 26, 2010.

307 Chinese boats were seized by South Korean officials in 2009 for illegal fishing activities, down 15 percent from the 353 boats seized in 2008.

Source: “Fewer Chinese boats seized for illegal fishing last year,” Yonhap News, January 2, 2010.

In 2007, the sex trade in South Korea is estimated to be worth 14 Trillion South Korean Won, or $12 Billion. This is equal to 1.6 percent of South Korea’s GDP.

The Korean Women’s Development Institute reported that there were 46,000 brothels in the country in 2007.

Source:  Kim So-hyun, “Sex trade accounts for 1.6% of GDP,” The Korea Herald,September 20, 2008.

An estimated 400 whales are illegally killed or poached in the water surrounding South Korea.

Source:  “Black Market Whale Meat Seized in South Korea,” Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, January 14, 2008.

Price is in US Dollars and represents the typical price of Marijuana in Asia.

Source:  UNODC, “World Drug Report 2009: Section 3.4 Prices, pages 215 to 234,” June 2009.

In 2008, 746 cases of counterfeit goods imports and exports were reported by the Korea Customs Service.  In 2001, the Service reported 323 cases.

Source:  Jane Han, “Fake vs. Real: Lowdown on Counterfeit Fashion,” Korea Times, June 24, 2009.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism of South Korea has stated that the software piracy rate in the country stands at 23.4 percent.

Source:  “Wii System Sales Reach 500,000 in Korea,” Nintendo World Report, May 9, 2009.

in 2008, Japanese Customs handled 26,415 cases of counterfeit goods, an increase of 16.6 percent from the year before.  It also marked the seventh straight increase in the amount of counterfeit goods seized during the year. 

81.5 percent of the counterfeit goods originated from China, followed by 12.4 percent of goods from South Korea. 

Source: Kyodo, “Most pirated imports tied to China,” Japan Times, March 7, 2009.