A container full of exhibits sent by several Korean companies to participate in a major beauty show in Las Vegas was stolen in the United States, leaving 70 Korean companies to start the exhibition without any exhibits.
According to the Korea International Trade Association (KITA) and the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises (KBIZ), over 120 Korean companies were set to participate in the 2024 Cosmoprof North America Las Vegas exhibition, held from July 23 to July 25. This event is one of the world’s three major beauty exhibitions, along with Bologna Cosmoprof and Hong Kong Cosmoprof.
The KBIZ organized the Korean pavilion for the exhibition, but many booths remained unfilled until the evening of July 22, just before the opening. This was due to a logistics container carrying exhibits from 70 Korean companies that disappeared. The container was reportedly stolen while being transported from the Port of Los Angeles to Las Vegas.
“The driver of the container truck received a voicemail saying, ‘You can’t bring things into the exhibition center, so put them somewhere else,’” said a KITA official.
The Korean pavilion was organized by the Korea Exhibition Company (KOECO) and the International Beauty Industry Trade Association (IBITA), and all the affected companies used logistics companies designated by KOECO.
Officials are puzzled by the theft. “The most common type of fraudulent crime is the interception of unloaded cargo at the port by stealing or impersonating the logistics company’s information,” said Jongsung Lim, general manager of NGL Transportation. “But this is the first time we’ve seen a voice-phishing scam to unload cargo elsewhere.”
“This is most likely the work of an individual truck driver carrying the stolen container,” he added. An anonymous logistics industry source expressed disbelief, saying, “I don’t understand how a container would go missing for a scam.”
The theft left many exhibitors with empty booths and no exhibits on the first day of the show. The KITA expects the situation to improve on the second day, July 24.
About 33 of the 70 affected companies had their exhibits flown in from South Korea on July 22, the day before the show, and some were displaying small amounts of goods they brought in their suitcases.
“Although there are some empty booths, many people are still visiting the Korean Pavilion because of the recent reputation of the Korean beauty industry,” said an official, who was in charge of setting up the Korean Pavilion at the exhibition on July 23. “The company representatives are operating booths with samples and pamphlets that they brought with them.”
A KOECO representative stated through a Korean media outlet, “The logistics delivery company is at fault 100% for this incident, but since we selected the company, we will discuss the issue of compensation after the exhibition.”
BY KYEONGJUN KIM, HOONSIK WOO [kim.kyeongjun1@koreadaily.com]
