SEOUL, July 22 ― Police said today they have received nearly 1,000 reports of suspicious international packages across the nation amid concerns that the parcels might contain an unspecified hazardous material.
Police said they received a total of 987 reports related to the delivery of the suspicious parcels from abroad, mostly from Taiwan yesterday alone, according to Yonhap news agency.
In some parcels, lip balm or other cheap products were found, with some packages delivered empty.
No hazardous material has been detected in such parcels, but police said they will decide whether to launch an investigation, depending on the results of substance analysis.
On Thursday, a random parcel suspected of containing gaseous toxic materials was delivered to a welfare centre for the disabled in the southeastern port city of Ulsan. Three people who unpacked it were said to suffer dizziness and difficulty breathing, it added.
Police called for vigilance against suspicious international parcels. They said the colour of such packages could be yellow or black, and they could have "CHUNGHWA POST" written on them. The sender could be PO Box 100561-003777, Taipei Taiwan.
Yonhap also reported Taipei Mission in South Korea said it had found that such parcels were initially sent from China and arrived in South Korea after a stopover in Taiwan.
Taiwan's customs agency has conducted a probe over the delivery route of the suspected packages, and the mission said it has shared the results of the probe with the South Korean police and related agencies for close cooperation. ― Bernama
