Seoul: Over 100,000 foreign travelers have been caught violating customs regulations in South Korea over the past five years, with the majority of cases involving Chinese nationals, data revealed.

According to Yonhap News Agency, a total of 104,173 customs violation cases involving foreign nationals were reported between 2021 and 2025. This data was submitted by the Korea Customs Service to Rep. Park Sung-hoon of the ruling Democratic Party. Among the countries, China accounted for the highest number of cases, with 66,681 violations. Vietnam followed with 19,930 cases, while the United States had 8,542 violations. Additionally, Uzbekistan and Thailand recorded 5,895 and 2,933 cases, respectively.

The data highlighted that the most frequent violation was exceeding the duty-free limit, with 43,885 cases reported. Furthermore, authorities recorded 24,464 instances of possession of prohibited items, including illegal drugs, food, and firearms. In a notable incident, a traveler from Poland was apprehended during an X-ray inspection for attempting to smuggle approximately 41 kilograms of narcotics in his suitcase in July of the previous year.

Rep. Park emphasized the need for authorities to enhance measures to prevent the entry of illegal goods that could pose risks to public safety.