More than 2,000 reports of suspicious parcels have been received by the South Korean police. For several days, mysterious parcels sent from abroad have been reaching the inhabitants of the whole country. South Korea asked China for help in the investigation, where the packages are supposed to come from.
South Korean police first reported the case on Saturday. She said at the time that she had been receiving hundreds of reports since Thursday about residents across the country receiving suspicious packages sent from abroad. By Tuesday, the total number of mysterious package reports exceeded 2.1 thousand.
One of the first applications we received came from a social welfare center for people with disabilities in the city of Ulsan. The package was opened by three staff members who later required hospital treatment after suffering from dizziness and breathing difficulties.
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Suspicious parcels in South Korea
South Korean police responded by launching an investigation into the case, while carrying out checks on the contents of reported suspicious packages. By Tuesday, a total of 679 parcels had been inspected and found no toxins or other substances hazardous to health. Most of them contained lip balms or other inexpensive products. The rest of the packages were completely empty. The found objects were sent for further analysis in order to identify the substances contained in them.
Also, the inspection of the package from Ulsan did not reveal any dangerous content. Initially, officers suspected that there was a toxic gas inside the package, but after conducting laboratory tests, nothing dangerous was detected, the Korea Herald reports.
South Korean police are continuing their investigation, but there is currently no indication of any connection to terrorism. According to local media, it is suspected that the packages may be part of a scam in which sellers from shopping platforms send people products they did not order, previously illegally obtaining their personal information. In this way, they hope to increase their sales and get more customer ratings – this type of scam has happened before in the region.
China is involved in the investigation
Suspicious packages are sent to South Korea from abroad, most of them from Taiwan. However, according to the Taiwanese Customs Office, these parcels were only redirected in Taiwan to South Korea and were shipped from China. Therefore, Beijing was also asked to assist in the investigation. “We have received a request from South Korea for assistance with the investigation. We are investigating the case. We remain in contact with South Korea, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Monday.
South Korean authorities have issued warnings to residents not to open suspicious packages in situations where they are unsure who the sender is. They also advised you to report suspicious shipments to the police or fire brigade every time.
Korea Herald, Korea Times, South China Morning Post, tvn24.pl
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