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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. 

The Bank of Korea has announced that the number of counterfeit bills found has been declining over the last several years as the Central Bank takes measures to protect its currency. 

From JoongAng Daily:

The number of fake bills detected by the Bank of Korea has been sliding over the past three years, thanks to the issuance of new notes with advanced anti-forgery functions. 

The central bank said yesterday that counterfeit banknotes found last year totaled 15,448, down 1.5 percent from a year earlier. In 2006, the figure stood at 21,939. Among those discovered last year, 74.8 percent were old ones. In 2007 the bank released new editions of 1,000 won and 10,000 won notes. The new 5,000 won ($3.60) bank bill entered circulation starting early 2006.