If you take prescription medication and you are flying to Korea, there are two very different sets of rules, and which one applies to you decides whether you can simply pack your pills or whether you need government approval ten days before you fly.
Most travellers only need to keep the pharmacy label on the box. A smaller group — anyone carrying a medicine that Korea classifies as a narcotic or psychotropic substance — has to hold a permit from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety before they arrive. There is no way to sort it out at the airport.
This guide sets out both, using the wording from Korea's own notices.
The short version
Ordinary prescription and over-the-counter medicine: bring it, keep it labelled, keep the quantity reasonable. The published ceiling is six bottles or a three-month supply.
Medicine containing a controlled substance: you need an MFDS permit, applied for at least ten days before your entry date. This applies "regardless of their nationality" — there is no tourist exemption.
Rule one: ordinary medicines
The Korean foreign ministry's traveller notice puts the limit plainly: "The medicines are allowed with a maximum of 6 bottles or three months' supply."
That is generous for a holiday and tight for a long stay. If you are moving to Korea for a year, you cannot bring the whole year with you.
What counts as proof
The same notice says "you must prove that the medicines you are carrying are for your personal use." It then gives the accepted examples: "a prescription, medical certificate or pharmacy label on the packaging."
The pharmacy label is the easy one. It is also the one people destroy without thinking — decanting a month of tablets into a weekly pill organiser and throwing the box away removes your evidence. Keep the original packaging.
Rule two: controlled substances
This is where the rules get strict. The notice states that "any person who plans to enter Korea with medicines containing controlled substances should apply for and get a permit from MFDS, regardless of their nationality." The requirement has been in force since 23 October 2009.
Korea's classification is its own. A medicine that is an everyday prescription at home can sit in Korea's controlled category. Common examples that travellers ask about include stimulant medication for ADHD and strong painkillers, but the list is not something to guess at — ask MFDS with the exact ingredient name.
Where to check whether your medicine is controlled
Contact the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety directly before you book anything expensive.
- English-speaking line: +82-43-719-1564
- Narcotics Policy Division: +82-43-719-2813
- Email: narcotics@korea.kr
Give them the active ingredient, not the brand name. Brand names differ between countries; the ingredient does not.
The ten-day rule
The MFDS guideline is specific: "Application and required documents should be submitted at least 10 days before entry date," and "legal processing period of the permit is 10 business days."
Ten business days is not ten days. With a weekend in the middle that is two calendar weeks. If you are booking a trip in three weeks and you need this permit, start now rather than after you have packed.
The documents you need
The official guideline lists seven items.
| # | Document |
| 1 | Application form 1 (Inbound Traveler's Permit) |
| 2 | Application form 2 (Narcotics bring in permit) |
| 3 | Full-size copy of passport, clear enough to identify photo and passport information |
| 4 | Flight reservation showing entry and departure dates and flight number |
| 5 | Medical certificate or doctor's letter with diagnosis, medication names and dosage |
| 6 | Valid prescription with patient information and prescribed quantity |
| 7 | Drug export/import certificate from your country of residence |
On item seven: many countries do not issue such a certificate for a personal supply. The guideline allows you to note that it is "Not available" rather than leaving the application incomplete.
How much you may bring
The ceiling is written into the guideline: the quantity "must not exceed 90 days (3 months) supply at the maximum dose recommended by prescriber," with up to five additional days allowed for contingencies.
Note the phrase "maximum dose recommended by prescriber." If your prescription says one to two tablets daily, the calculation uses two, not one. That works in your favour.
How to apply
Two routes exist.
By email or fax, as the guideline states: "E-mail: narcotics@korea.kr or Fax: +82 43 719 2800."
Or online. MFDS opened an online application through its drug safety portal (Drug Safety Korea, nedrug.mfds.go.kr) on 27 December 2024. The Danish embassy in Seoul describes the same requirement: travellers carrying controlled substances "must submit an online application to the MFDS prior to travel."
What happens if you skip it
The guideline is blunt about medicines sent by post: "Already shipped medicines seized by Korea customs will be destroyed or returned to the sender."
Do not treat the permit as optional paperwork. Korea enforces its narcotics law strictly, and the consequences of arriving with a controlled substance and no permit are not limited to losing the medicine. If your travel date is too close for the ten-day window, the right move is to talk to your own doctor about the trip — not to pack it and hope.
Posting medicine to yourself does not solve it
People sometimes assume that mailing a package avoids the problem. It does the opposite: a parcel goes through customs with no traveller standing beside it to explain, which is exactly the situation the guideline describes as ending in destruction or return.
Why Korea is stricter than most places
Korea's narcotics law does not distinguish between recreational use and a legitimate prescription written by a doctor abroad. The substance is either permitted for you to carry or it is not, and the permit is what makes it permitted. Countries that operate on a "carry your prescription and you will be fine" basis are the exception here, not the rule.
That is also why the permit sits with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety rather than with immigration or customs. Customs officers enforce the outcome; MFDS decides it in advance.
Transiting through Korea
A layover at Incheon still counts as being in Korean territory with the medicine on you. If your itinerary routes you through Korea and you are carrying a controlled substance, treat it as an entry and ask MFDS at the numbers above rather than assuming a transit exemption applies.
The form asks for your flight number — book first
Document four on the list is a "flight reservation copy with entry/departure dates and flight number." That means you cannot complete the application before you have booked. Combined with the ten-business-day processing period, the practical order is: book, apply the same week, then everything else.
If your dates change after the permit is issued, contact MFDS rather than travelling on a permit that no longer matches your itinerary.
What "three months" is measured against
The guideline says the ceiling is "90 days (3 months) supply at the maximum dose recommended by prescriber." Two details matter.
First, it is measured in doses, not boxes. A pack size that happens to run to 100 days does not become acceptable because it is one box.
Second, the five extra days are described as being for contingencies — a delayed flight, a missed connection. They are a buffer, not an extension you can plan around.
Over-the-counter medicine you might not think about
Cold and flu remedies, sleep aids and some allergy medicines contain ingredients that are regulated differently from country to country. The six-bottle rule covers ordinary quantities of ordinary products, but if you are carrying something in bulk, or something that needed a pharmacist's involvement at home, check the ingredient rather than assuming that "you can buy it in a supermarket" settles it.
Keep a copy of everything
Print the permit and carry it with the medicine. Keep a photo of it on your phone as a backup, along with the doctor's letter and the prescription. Border questions are answered fastest by handing over a document, not by describing one.
If you are staying longer than three months
The three-month ceiling means long-stay students, teachers and workers cannot simply bring the whole supply. The realistic path is to register with a Korean clinic after arrival and continue treatment locally.
Bring your medical records and a letter from your doctor with the diagnosis and the ingredient names. A Korean doctor cannot continue a prescription they cannot verify.
A note on health insurance
If you will be in Korea long enough to see a doctor, look at how coverage works before you need it. We cover the basics in our guide to health insurance in Korea for students.
Hand luggage or checked bag
Keep medication in your hand luggage with the documents. A checked bag can be delayed, and a permit in a suitcase that is still in another country is no use at the counter.
Common mistakes
| Mistake | Why it matters |
| Pill organiser, no box | Removes the pharmacy label, which is the accepted proof |
| Checking brand name only | Korea classifies by ingredient; brands differ by country |
| Applying one week ahead | Processing alone is 10 business days |
| Bringing a year's supply | Ceiling is three months plus five days |
| Mailing it instead | Seized parcels are destroyed or returned |
Before you fly: a checklist
- Write down the active ingredient of everything you take.
- Call or email MFDS to confirm whether any of them is controlled in Korea.
- If yes, start the permit application at least ten days before departure.
- Keep original packaging and the pharmacy label.
- Carry a doctor's letter with diagnosis, ingredient names and dosage.
- Keep quantities within three months, plus five days if you hold a permit.
Where these rules come from
Everything above is taken from Korean government sources: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs traveller notice "Bringing Medicines into Korea By Travel", and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety "Guideline on permit to bring in narcotics for self-treatment". Where a number appears here, it appears in one of those documents.
Rules change. Before you travel, confirm with MFDS on the numbers above. This page is not medical or legal advice, and your own doctor is the right person to talk to about your treatment.
Related guides
If you are planning the rest of the trip, our guides to Korea's duty-free allowance and K-ETA and the e-Arrival Card cover the other two things travellers most often get wrong at the border.
