

Why International Students Are Unknowingly Involved in Crimes :Today, we are going to talk about important things that all international students studying in Korea should know!!
That’s… illegal exchange!
When I was working part-time at the international department of the school, this kind of student would often come to me.
“Sir, my bank card was suspended, but I don’t know why it was suspended. The police said my bank account was involved in a crime… I swear I’ve never committed a crime or anything. I can’t pay my tuition and do anything because of this!”
That’s right. More students than we thought were suspended from their bank cards, so they are escorted home every year without completing their studies every year. They usually exchange or remit money through unregistered currency exchanges, not through legally licensed financial institutions. However, the illegal exchange itself did not block the bank account. This illegal exchange is usually used as a way of “money laundering” by criminal organizations that have earned profits through voice phishing or financial fraud. So the money goes into the account of the international student and when the victim reports it, innocent international students become suspects.
When an international student is studying abroad, currency exchange is an inevitable procedure. Yeoreum is here! I would like to stress that currency exchange should be done in a place where it is legally. In particular, Chinese students will often see a message on WeChat saying, “We exchange it for a high exchange rate.” If you exchange money after seeing such a post, 99% of it is illegal, so you will not be able to use the bank card again, and it will also affect your visa extension, so you will not be able to continue studying abroad. He didn’t commit a direct crime, but he indirectly helped the criminal organization “money laundering.”
Korean Articles on Illegal Exchange : Why International Students Are Unknowingly involved in Crimes
Currently, many companies are struggling with illegal foreign exchange transactions. What is illegal foreign exchange trading, and why is it a problem?
Under the current law, all foreign exchange transactions are considered illegal foreign currency outflows except for remittance through financial institutions, reporting them to customs (more than $10,000), and taking cash.
If foreign currency is paid without this, ▲ there is no need to inform the purpose of remittance stipulated in the Foreign Exchange Transaction Act, ▲ There is no exchange fee to be paid when exchanging currency normally, and ▲ It is considered as a outflow of national wealth.
When exporting or paying foreign currency directly, it must be confirmed by the Bank of Korea or the Foreign Exchange Bank according to the amount and reason, and the reporting exception transaction is limited to overseas travelers and migrants paying less than $10,000 directly from abroad.
The types of illegal foreign exchange transactions in the article “99 Travel Companies, Caught for Illegal Foreign Exchange Transactions” covered in Travel Newspaper No. 1275 can be largely divided into illegal foreign exchange and exchange.
Illegal currency exchange is most common to use a currency exchange office. Currency exchange cannot sell purchased foreign currency outside the foreign exchange bank. However, some currency exchanges were caught purchasing foreign currency without data for the purpose of tax evasion and unfair profits and illegally selling it to travel agencies and trading companies.
Currency exchange is one of the most common methods of illegal foreign exchange trading. For example, it is a method of requiring people who want to transfer money from Korea to Japan to deposit money into an account opened in Korea, and sending the actual payment directly from a borrowed-name account opened in Japan.
These illegal foreign exchange transactions are not only violations of the Foreign Exchange Transaction Act, but also can lead to other illegal activities such as crimes, so crackdowns are needed. To this end, the Korea Customs Service is conducting inspections and investigations on import and export transactions based on customs data, and reporting and permission for the movement of cross-border payment methods.
Let’s all have a healthy and fun study abroad and avoid illegal exchange to return home and become great talents in the a healthy and fun future!