Korean customs warns of toxic chemicals in counterfeit Labubu keyrings

Fake versions of the wildly popular Chinese character keyring Labubu are turning out to be more than just cheap imitations — they’re laced with toxic chemicals thousands of times above safe limits, Korean customs authorities warned this week.

The Korea Customs Service said Wednesday that it will launch a special eight-week crackdown on illegal imports via overseas direct purchases starting Monday, ahead of major international discount events such as China’s Singles’ Day on Tuesday and the United States’ Black Friday on Nov. 28.

Customs officials also disclosed results from an inspection of counterfeit goods that infringed on intellectual property rights and were brought into Korea during the first half of the year.

A total of 606,443 counterfeit items were uncovered, where chemical testing was conducted on 250 items that come in direct contact with skin, such as accessories. Of those, 112 were found to contain carcinogenic substances including lead, cadmium and phthalates that exceeded Korea’s safety thresholds. In some cases, lead and cadmium were detected at levels up to 5,527 times above the permissible limit.

The inspection also included items purchased through livestream commerce platforms on Instagram and YouTube. Of 42 counterfeit accessories bought via these channels, 24 items, or 57.1 percent, were found to contain lead and cadmium levels above the legal limit.

Lead was detected at concentrations as high as 41.64 percent, which is 4,627 times the legal limit, and cadmium at 12 percent, 120 times the legal limit, suggesting that the materials were not simply used for surface coating but likely served as primary ingredients in manufacturing, according to the Korea Customs Service.

Among five Labubu keyrings analyzed, two were found to contain phthalates at levels 344 times higher than domestic safety standards. Lead, cadmium and phthalates are classified as possibly carcinogenic to humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

“With the number of overseas direct purchases expected to reach 200 million this year, we will step up efforts to crack down on offenders who exploit the system,” said Korea Customs Service Commissioner Lee Myeong-ku.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

BY JEONG HYE-JEONG [[email protected]]