Soaring silver prices fuel smuggling surge in Korea

South Korea is seeing a sharp surge in silver smuggling as global prices spike, customs authorities said Wednesday. According to the Korea Customs Service, 14 cases worth 4.56 billion won ($3.1 million) were detected in the first quarter, already exceeding last year’s total of 10 cases worth 1.69 billion won. The value of seizures has jumped 2.7 times year on year. Authorities attributed the increase to soaring prices. Global silver prices climbed from about $30 per troy ounce early last year to

By The Korea Herald