Counterfeit gold is spreading through the Korean market as the precious metal’s price steadily rises toward an unprecedented 100 million won ($680) per 3.75 grams, according to industry officials, Monday. The standard retail unit in Korea, a 3.75-gram pure gold piece, was priced at 948,000 won, Monday, surpassing the 940,000-won mark for the first time after rising about 80 percent in 2025, according to the Korea Gold Exchange. An average of 49,712 users per month requested authentication of their gold through the mobile appraisal platform Geumbang Geumbang in the fourth quarter of 2025, up 50.5 percent from a year earlier, the platform said. "The number is expected to rise even faster in the first quarter this year, given the surge in gold prices and suspected smuggling of counterfeit gold," an industry official said. The official referred to a warning from the Korea Jewelry Federation, which recently identified counterfeit gold containing about impurities of up to 9 percent, including materials such as tungsten. The rate suggests the loss of at least 20 million won in pure gold per k