Cigarettes are being falsely traded under well-know brand names on a vast scale here, mostly via the Internet, according to a report released Thursday by Rep. Bahk Jae-wan of the main opposition Grand National Party.
Many Internet blogs have advertisements for such fake cigarette brands, the most popular being Malboro and Esse, Bahk said.
They sell 10 packs of fake popular brands at prices of around 3,200 won. One pack of cigarettes here sells for around 2,500 won.
Smuggled cigarettes are also secretly circulated in bars and even cigarette stores.
A market in Busan, which deals mostly in imported goods, has 50 stores, which sell fake cigarette products at a 30-percent discount from the regular price.
But trade in fake cigarettes is more rampant on the Internet, which are available with an up to 80-percent discount.
In the past three years, 867 cigarette smuggling cases _ valued at about 21 billion won _ have been reported by the Korea Customs Service.
The cigarette smuggling cases are on the rise _ 72 cases in 2004, 303 in 2005, 366 in 2006 and 376 in the first half of 2007.
The easy access to cigarettes via the Internet is a huge problem as school children can buy then through that route, Bahk said.