Items that individual shoppers purchased from abroad through online shopping platforms are kept in boxes for inspection at a customs checkpoint in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, May 17. Korea Times file

As Koreans are increasingly buying goods from abroad through online shopping platforms, the customs agency is having a headache with storing goods that are not approved for import and must be kept temporarily at customs checkpoints.

Citing data from the Korea Customs Service (KCS), Rep. Oh Gi-hyoung of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea said the KCS had 637,000 items purchased from abroad in its bonded warehouse in 2023.

A bonded warehouse is a private building or a secured area at a customs checkpoint where dutiable imports are stored.

The 2023 tally marked a 224.5 percent increase from 2019, when 196,000 cases were reported.

“Simply put, the number of such items more than tripled over the corresponding four years,” Oh said.

The finding comes as overseas direct purchases by Korean online shoppers have been growing fast, from 5.1 trillion won ($3.74 billion) in 2021 to 5.3 trillion won in 2022 and 6.8 trillion won in 2023.

The number of shoppers also tripled over the past five years, from 5.19 million to 15.57 million last year. It is the first time the figure has exceeded 15 million, coming to more than one in four people here.

“As more shoppers buy goods from overseas, there is a higher possibility for them to choose goods that remain questionable over whether they can legally be brought into the country,” the lawmaker said.

He said such a possibility is believed to be growing as Koreans are increasingly using Chinese online shopping platforms, including AliExpress and Temu.

About 80 products sold at these malls are banned from import for safety or environmental reasons.

The products range from toys to home appliances, electronic devices, humidifier disinfectants and pesticides.

The Seoul city government put them on the import ban list in May, noting the possibility of cancer, fire hazard and other harms that can be inflicted on users.

The lawmaker explained that the KCS correspondingly discarded banned products at 554,000 instances in 2023 after observing relevant rules.

The 2023 figure marked a 197.4 percent increase from a year earlier.

The cost of discarding banned goods was estimated at between 300 million won and 400 million won.

“Such costs are paid for using taxpayers' money,” the lawmaker said, urging the government to take measures to reduce unapproved goods from entering the country.