Why iconv throws "illegal input sequence" error?

Solution Verified - Updated -

Issue

  • iconv command reports "illegal input sequence" and fails to change the encoding.
$ iconv -f IBM1388 -t GB18030 test > output_bad_GB18030
iconv: illegal input sequence at position 171

Environment

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
  • glibc-common

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