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Selling black market liquor in Korea?

 
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PeterDragon



Joined: 15 Feb 2007

PostPosted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 2:24 am    Post subject: Selling black market liquor in Korea? Reply with quote

Okay, so a buddy of mine is coming to visit in a few weeks, and I told him about the crazy prices I've seen European and even U.S. whiskey going for in the local bars when sold by the bottle.

Now he wants to come over here with as much whiskey as he thinks he can bring in, and sell it on the streets to pay for part of his trips. So, a few questions about this endeavor:

1) How much trouble can he get in should the authorities bust him?

2) What are the odds the authorities would bust him?

3) How much trouble can I get in, since the stated purpose of his trip is to visit me? Does it make a difference if I'm near him/with him when he's selling?

4) Can this actually be profitable? Can a ten dollar bottle of So'Co' be sold of for 60,000 won and still be snapped up as a bargain?

I'll forward any insight/foresight to him via e-mail.
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chasmmi



Joined: 16 Jun 2007
Location: Ulsan

PostPosted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 2:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If they check his baggage it will be hard to explain why he needs 45 bottles of whiskey for a 2 week vacation.
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ttompatz



Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea

PostPosted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 3:02 am    Post subject: Re: Selling black market liquor in Korea? Reply with quote

PeterDragon wrote:
Okay, so a buddy of mine is coming to visit in a few weeks, and I told him about the crazy prices I've seen European and even U.S. whiskey going for in the local bars when sold by the bottle.

Now he wants to come over here with as much whiskey as he thinks he can bring in, and sell it on the streets to pay for part of his trips. So, a few questions about this endeavor:

1) How much trouble can he get in should the authorities bust him?

2) What are the odds the authorities would bust him?

3) How much trouble can I get in, since the stated purpose of his trip is to visit me? Does it make a difference if I'm near him/with him when he's selling?

4) Can this actually be profitable? Can a ten dollar bottle of So'Co' be sold of for 60,000 won and still be snapped up as a bargain?

I'll forward any insight/foresight to him via e-mail.


Smuggling is not something you want to get caught doing. (it is not so much the commodity as the act itself that will get you into trouble).

Fines, imprisonment (up to 10 years) and deportation all may be in your imminent future.

He is legally allowed to bring in 1 liter of liquor.

Alternatively you can LEGALLY import all you want as long as you get the import permit, pay the duties and tariffs (works out to about 100% of the cost).

Then it is just a matter of setting up your distribution channel and selling your face off.
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PeterDragon



Joined: 15 Feb 2007

PostPosted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 3:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, my friend says he's heard on good authority that he can bring five liters, which he figures he can squeeze a few hundred profit out of. I don't know where he's getting his facts; there a link to the one liter rule?
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Ginormousaurus



Joined: 27 Jul 2006
Location: 700 Ft. Pulpit

PostPosted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 3:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have no information to offer, but I'm just wondering how he'll go about selling it?
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CentralCali



Joined: 17 May 2007

PostPosted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 3:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

PeterDragon wrote:
Well, my friend says he's heard on good authority that he can bring five liters, which he figures he can squeeze a few hundred profit out of. I don't know where he's getting his facts; there a link to the one liter rule?


From The Official Site of Korea Tourism:

Quote:
Duty-Free Articles

� Visitor's (non-resident's) goods which will be taken out of Korea upon departure. (The total
quantity of the goods should be declared for duty exemption.)
� Goods which were declared
upon departure from Korea and are being brought back.
1 bottle (not over 1 liter) of alcoholic beverages 200 cigarettes (50 cigars or 250 grams of tobacco)
� 2 ounces of perfume
� For further information on goods subject to declaration and prohibited
goods, please contact the Customs Information Office at Incheon International Airport.

Tel) +82-32-740-3333 or +82-80-742-7272


I've bolded the bit about the booze.

I also heartily recommend that your friend abandon his idea of smuggling/black marketing. There are a number of stories online by people who've had the misfortune to spend time in jails or detention centers in South Korea. Let's just say that these jails aren't what he'd expect in his home country.
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PeterDragon



Joined: 15 Feb 2007

PostPosted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 4:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, if you can't get raped in 'em, they're a step up from the ones in the States....

... I''ll send him a link to this thread.
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CentralCali



Joined: 17 May 2007

PostPosted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 4:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

PeterDragon wrote:
Well, if you can't get raped in 'em, they're a step up from the ones in the States....

... I''ll send him a link to this thread.


Well, prison rape isn't what people think it is anyway in the US (i.e., how common it is, who the victims are, who the perpetrators are). And you probably can get raped in the jails here too.
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PeterDragon



Joined: 15 Feb 2007

PostPosted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 4:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm from the states, and I have many friends who've done time. Specifics aside, rape just seems more common in lockdown settings in the U.S. than in some countries. Not Korea apparently.
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seoulsucker



Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Location: The Land of the Hesitant Cutoff

PostPosted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 5:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

PeterDragon wrote:
I'm from the states, and I have many friends who've done time. Specifics aside, rape just seems more common in lockdown settings in the U.S. than in some countries. Not Korea apparently.


Well, tell your buddy to follow through with his plan and you can get a first-hand account from him after a couple of months.
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PeterDragon



Joined: 15 Feb 2007

PostPosted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 4:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Awesome, I'm sick of hearing anecdotes about the U.S Prison system from my other drinking buddies. This friend of mine can break the monotony. I sent him a link to the thread.
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CentralCali



Joined: 17 May 2007

PostPosted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 5:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Also let him know that once he leaves America, he's no longer in America. And the local law and order types (cops, judges, jailers) just might not appreciate him acting as though he were.

Back in 2000, when I had a job on a tiny British island in the Indian Ocean, I had to watch a trial in which one of my company's employees was a witness. The defendant was an American civilian who had assaulted the employee. Well, at one point during the trial, the magistrate asked the defendant a question. The defendant refused and said, "I claim my rights under the Fifth Amendment."

That was good entertainment, especially the expression on the magistrate's face.
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PeterDragon



Joined: 15 Feb 2007

PostPosted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 6:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hilarious! My curiousity's piqued. What island is this?
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CentralCali



Joined: 17 May 2007

PostPosted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 6:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory.
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