Chinese people taking cold medicine... Buying and selling in 'group room for 500 people'

<Anchor>

Recently, because it is so difficult to obtain medicine in China, where the number of corona patients is rapidly increasing, there have been many stories of Chinese people buying cold medicine in Korea and then sending it to China.

Reporter Yeo Hyeon-gyo's on-site coverage of how much is actually being traded and how it is sent to China will be followed by more questions.

<Reporter>

A Chinese man is buying medicine as he enters a drugstore in a shopping mall in Jung-gu, Seoul, where many Chinese people visit.

It is a medicine to take when coughing and sputum symptoms are present, and 20 packs of unopened plastic are placed in a paper bag at once.

Why buy so many drugs?

[Chinese seller: (Aren't you using it yourself?) No, I'm selling it, I'm selling it.

for sale here

Sales.]

As it is difficult to obtain medicines in China due to the rapid increase in corona patients, they are sending Korean medicines to China.

[Chinese seller: (I guess there are not many medicines in China, right?) There are no medicines.

People are going crazy right now because there is no medicine.]

Enlarge Image

I looked into a group chat room this man is participating in.

There are 500 people, but they are middlemen who want Korean medicine.

[Chinese vendor: This (the chat room here) has 500 customers, 500 people.

(Other chat rooms) This is because there are 500 customers under you...

.

So, if the amount is very large, this can be done.]

In the chat room, inquiries about the medicine to buy continue, and the type of medicine secured and pictures are exchanged.

The medicine is said to be transported by the international student, and the cost of transportation is also presented.

[Chinese seller: Coughing is really bad in China.

People need this because they keep coughing badly.

I just do 5 (sell) and earn 10,000 won each.]

I also checked about 10 pharmacies in densely Chinese areas in Seoul.

This week has been quiet, but there were also places where Chinese purchases continued until last week.

[Pharmacy staff: I'll buy 10 at a time.

So, 10 general cold medicines, 10 anti-inflammatory drugs, and 10 types of Tylenol.

Doing it this way...

.]

The health authorities believe that even some cases can adversely affect the supply and demand of cold medicines in Korea, and are considering measures to improve distribution, such as limiting sales.

As concerns grew, the Korean Pharmaceutical Association launched a campaign to encourage people to buy only the amount of respiratory-related medicines they need.

(Video coverage: Kim Se-kyung, Video editing: Kim Jun-hee, CG: Jo Soo-in, VJ: Kim Jong-gap)

---

<Anchor>

Reporter Yeo Hyun-gyo, who covered this story, is here.

[Reporter Yeo Hyeon-gyo: Over two days last week and this week, we covered about 20 pharmacies in downtown Seoul and Chinese-populated areas.

In the process, I was able to see some large-volume purchases, and I also met Chinese people who are so-called bundlers.

According to the seller, the demand for corona-related medicines in China has been increasing recently, and more and more people are looking for cough medicine.

In fact, I will trade cough medicine with WeChat Pay in the chat room of the WeChat app or deliver medicine to international students. How much is the fee?

I was also able to confirm the transaction like this.]

[Reporter Yeo Hyeon-gyo: A few days ago, in Hanam, Gyeonggi-do, there was a story that Chinese people swept away 6 million won worth of cold medicine.

Even in the pharmacies I covered, there was no place where the level of hoarding was still taking place.

With the announcement of strengthening crackdowns on hoarding by authorities such as the Korea Customs Service, it was said that there were fewer inquiries about drug purchases than last week.

However, there were also voices of concern that the Korean Pharmaceutical Association's campaign to refrain from purchasing could arouse demand to buy in advance, on the contrary.]