After the Coupang personal information leak, applications to change personal customs clearance codes (PCCC) have surged, causing customs clearance for overseas direct purchases to be delayed up to three times longer than usual. Because the leak was large in scale, demand for number changes is expected to continue for the time being, raising the possibility of prolonged delivery disruptions.
According to the Korea Customs Service on the 5th, reissuances of customs clearance numbers totaled 123,302 on the 30th, 298,742 on the 1st, and 339,274 on the 2nd. On the 3rd and 4th, 203,087 and 166,950 were reissued, respectively. The five-day total of 1,131,355 reissuances is about 10 times the total issued from January to October this year. As reissue applications surged, the Korea Customs Service's Comprehensive Customs Information Network (UNI-PASS), the issuance portal, has experienced repeated access delays and errors since the afternoon of the 2nd.
Coupang said on the 29th that personal information from 33.7 million customer accounts was exposed without authorization. Although the leaked information did not include customs clearance numbers, the numbers are used in place of resident registration numbers for overseas direct purchases, prompting consumers to quickly move to change them.
The problem is that UNI-PASS outages are leading to customs delays. When overseas direct purchase items arrive in Korea, customs brokers must file import declarations or register customs clearance numbers through UNI-PASS, but recent server failures have repeatedly interrupted the process.
According to the logistics industry, at Incheon Airport, air cargo customs clearance times have increased from one day to two to three days, and sea cargo from three to four days to five to six days.
A representative of Company A said, "As consumers began changing their customs clearance numbers due to the Coupang incident, UNI-PASS became unresponsive," and added, "Because customs brokers use the same system, when there is an outage, operations stop across the board."
An increase in cases of changing customs clearance numbers during delivery is also adding to the confusion. Consumers enter their customs clearance numbers at the ordering stage, but if they change the number during delivery, it does not match the previously entered information, causing system errors.
Customs brokers are currently calling, texting, or sending app alerts to confirm the new customs clearance numbers. However, because consulting staff at customs brokers are limited, it is taking a long time to obtain the updated numbers.
A representative of Company B said, "There are so many change requests that it's impossible to work," adding, "We handled dozens of changes in just a half day on the 4th." The industry says such cases number in the hundreds per day.
As deliveries of overseas direct purchase products are delayed, consumer complaints are growing. A person surnamed Lee (41), who lives in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, bought supplements on the 1st but received a text message on the scheduled delivery date (the 4th) saying "customs clearance delayed."
Lee said, "I want to change my customs clearance number, but I can't because the product hasn't arrived yet," and added, "I'm worried that if I change it now, delivery will be further delayed, and I check every day in case the leaked number is used for crime."
A person surnamed Kim (30), who lives in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, also said, "Overseas direct purchase products usually arrived within one to two weeks, but the shoes I ordered on the 12th of last month still haven't arrived."
As the problem persisted, the Korea Customs Service also urged consumers to be cautious. In a notice the previous day, the Korea Customs Service said, "When reissuing a personal customs clearance code (PCCC), the previous personal customs clearance code (PCCC) becomes unusable, so if you have already ordered overseas direct purchases, please change the code after customs clearance is completed."
The logistics industry does not expect the situation to be resolved quickly. A representative of Company C said, "Year-end, including U.S. Black Friday shopping, is when overseas direct purchase volumes are the highest, and if UNI-PASS overload overlaps with that, customs delays could worsen," adding, "Delivery delays could spread across all consumers."