SEOUL - Louis Vuitton was the most frequently counterfeited foreign brand in South Korea over the past five years, a report showed on Saturday (Sept 22), Yonhap news agency reported.

Rolex came in second, followed by Cartier, Chanel and Gucci.

According to data from the Korea Customs Service, government regulators uncovered imitation Louis Vuitton products valued at 183.1 billion won (S$224 million) between 2014 and June this year, which is the largest value among counterfeited foreign luxury brands.

The value assessment was in terms of genuine Louis Vuitton goods, the report said.

Given that more than 41.1 billion won worth of Louis Vuitton goods were seized as of June, this year's total value is expected to reach a five-year high, according to agency officials.

In terms of the genuine goods value, Rolex came next with 106.1 billion won worth of imitations being detected over the past five years, followed by Cartier with 96.2 billion won, Chanel with 69.8 billion won, and Gucci with 40.2 billion won, the data showed.

"Making and distributing fake goods is a criminal act that violates intellectual property rights, and it is required to toughen crackdown on such illegalities," said lawmaker Kang Byung-won of the ruling Democratic Party. He requested the data from the customs agency and released it publicly, Yonhap said.