Customs agency detects illegal FX trading worth $272 mil.

A clerk sorts $100 banknotes at the headquarters of Hana Bank in Seoul, March 23. Korea Times photo by Ha Sang-yoon

Korea's customs agency has detected a combined 415.4 billion won ($272 million) worth of illegal foreign exchange trading this year through May, the finance ministry said Wednesday, amid government-wide efforts to curb market volatility.

The Ministry of Finance and Economy made the announcement during a meeting with related bodies, including the central bank, the customs service and the spy agency, where participants discussed ways to curb illegal trading taking advantage of the Korean won's recent slide against the greenback.

During the meeting, the customs agency said it had uncovered the illegal trading following its probe against 38 companies, which started in January.

Examples of illegal trading include excessively prepaying import costs to overseas counterparts, or using means such as virtual assets for settlements, disrupting the dollar supply, the finance ministry said.

Other violations include falsely reporting lower export prices and keeping the difference overseas.

The government, meanwhile, vowed to continue operating a special response team against illegal foreign exchange trading, originally planned to run through end of this month, on a permanent basis, in an effort to root out activities adversely affecting the market.