Korea Moved the Medication Permit Online in 2024. Its English Page Still Says Fax.
If you take a prescription medication that Korea classifies as a controlled substance, you need a permit from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety before you fly. Not a customs form on arrival. A permit, applied for at least ten days ahead.
That much every English guide gets right. What almost none of them get right is how you apply — and the reason is that Korea's own government website gives you two different answers, both still published, in August 2026.
The contradiction, in Korea's own words
MFDS runs an English notices board. Two notices on it describe the same permit.
| MFDS notice | Posted | How to apply, per that page |
|---|---|---|
| "Manual on Permit to Bring in Narcotics to Korea" (seq 72497) | 2018-05-23, body since updated | "Starting December 27, 2024, applicants can submit permit requests through an online system." Attachments are user manuals for the online portal in six languages. |
| "Self Treatment Narcotics Bring in Permit" (seq 75669) | 2023-05-26 | Email narcotics@korea.kr or fax +82-43-719-2800. No mention of any portal. |
The Korean-language notice (seq 43906, posted 2020-10-12) is worse: it also gives only the email and fax route, and it is the page that ranks for the Korean search term. Both of the older pages were still live when this article was checked.
So the practical answer: apply through the online portal. It exists, it works, and it has been the stated route since 27 December 2024.
Portal: nedrug.mfds.go.kr/CCAAI01/init — titled "Permit To Bring In Narcotics For Self-treatment." FAQ available in English, Japanese, Chinese, French and Spanish.
What I could not confirm: whether the email and fax channels have been formally withdrawn. No source, Korean or foreign, says they were. MFDS simply left the old pages up. If you have already emailed, you have probably not done anything wrong — but the portal is the route MFDS itself documents most recently.
The numbers
| Item | Rule |
|---|---|
| Who needs it | Anyone entering Korea carrying medicine containing a controlled substance, "regardless of their nationality." In force since 23 October 2009. |
| When to apply | At least 10 days before your entry date |
| Processing | "Legal processing period of the permit is 10 business days" |
| Maximum quantity | 90 days (3 months) supply at the prescriber's maximum recommended dose — and no more than you will actually consume during the visit |
| Contingency allowance | Extra for flight delays is allowed but "limited to 5 days dose" |
| Languages accepted | Korean or English only |
| Fee | Unconfirmed — see below |
Note the two caps stack in the restrictive direction, not the permissive one. Ninety days is a ceiling, not an entitlement. A permit is issued "strictly according to the length of your traveling." A two-week trip does not get you three months of pills.
Documents
- Application form 1 — "Inbound Traveler's Permit for Narcotics contained Medication for Personal Use"
- Application form 2 — "Narcotics bring in permit"
- Passport copy
- Flight reservation
- Medical certificate or doctor's letter
- Valid prescription
- Drug export/import certificate from your country of residence — if you supply this one, items 4 and 5 may be omitted
Portal mechanics worth knowing before you start, because they are not obvious and the system is unforgiving about them:
- No membership account required — email verification is enough
- Uploads must be PDF
- Documents can only be attached while the application is still a draft. Once you submit, you cannot add anything
- Once status reads "In Progress," the application cannot be modified — only withdrawn and refiled
- Helpdesk: 1544-9563
CBD is not a grey area here
This catches more travelers than the prescription rule does, because CBD is sold in supermarkets across North America and Europe.
MFDS's guideline defines the prohibited category verbatim as the hemp plant, its resin, all products manufactured from either, and "products containing Cannabinol or Tetrahydrocannabinol or Cannabidiol, and all the products or mixtures containing any of the aforementioned." Seeds, roots and mature stalks are excluded.
Cannabidiol is named. A CBD gummy, a CBD balm, a CBD vape cartridge — all inside the definition. There is no self-treatment permit for it; the guideline's single flat sentence is "Marijuana is prohibited to bring in." The U.S. Embassy in Seoul adds that this applies "including on airport layovers," and that possession can result in deportation and arrest even with a valid American prescription.
The legal citation everyone repeats is wrong
English-language articles about this permit routinely cite "Article 20 of the Narcotics Control Act." Article 20 of that Act is titled Sale of Imported Narcotics and prohibits importers from selling to unauthorized buyers. It has nothing to do with travelers.
In the current Act (Act No. 20214, last amended 6 February 2024), the provision that lets a non-handler lawfully handle narcotics at all is Article 4(2)7: "Other cases where any act is approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety as prescribed by Ordinance of the Prime Minister." The traveler permit itself is created by that Ordinance — the Enforcement Rule — which MFDS says it amended for this purpose effective 23 October 2009.
I could not retrieve the Enforcement Rule's own article number from a primary source; law.go.kr blocks automated access and MFDS's attachment endpoint would not serve the file. So this article does not cite one. If you see a specific Enforcement Rule article quoted elsewhere, treat it as unverified unless it links to the statute text.
What happens if you skip it
Penalties under the Narcotics Control Act are tiered by which schedule the drug sits in, and the top tier is severe. From the official English translation dated 30 October 2019:
| Article | Applies to | Penalty |
|---|---|---|
| 58(1) | Importing narcotic drugs | Imprisonment with labor for an indefinite term, or not less than 5 years. No fine alternative |
| 58(1)5 | Importing cannabis | Same tier as above |
| 59(1)10 | Importing certain psychotropic drugs | Imprisonment with labor, not less than 1 year |
| 60(1)3 | Importing lower-schedule psychotropic drugs | Up to 10 years, or a fine up to ₩100,000,000 |
These figures come from the 2019 English translation. I could not confirm the penalty articles are textually unchanged in the February 2024 version, because the current translation's article text would not render past Article 11-6. Take the tiering as the structure and the numbers as the 2019 baseline.
In practice, what a traveler faces is a different question from what the statute authorizes, and here the record is thin. MFDS's guideline only addresses medicines sent by mail: those are "seized by Korea customs" and "destroyed or returned to the sender." I found no official Korean statement describing what happens to someone who lands at Incheon holding a legitimately prescribed controlled medicine and no permit. The U.S. Embassy says Incheon customs has the authority to decide what is allowed in. That is the honest extent of it.
Three things I could not verify
- Whether there is a fee. The guideline, both MFDS notices and the portal are all silent. No source says it is free either. Assume nothing.
- Whether amphetamine-based ADHD medication can be permitted at all. Methylphenidate (Concerta, Ritalin) is approved in Korea; amphetamine salts (Adderall) are not marketed here. Several commercial blogs state flatly that amphetamines cannot be personally imported regardless of prescription — but none of them cite a government source, and I found no MFDS text saying so. The only official-adjacent wording is the U.S. Embassy's, which excludes "narcotics or amphetamines" from a simpler six-bottle allowance without saying a permit is impossible. If this is your medication, call MFDS Narcotics Policy Division directly: +82-43-719-2813, English line +82-43-719-1564.
- Whether the post-2024 online process changed the document list. The seven-document list above comes from the guideline PDF that predates the portal. MFDS's newer online user manual would not download. It is very likely unchanged; it is not confirmed unchanged.
If you take one thing from this
Ten days. That is the number that ruins trips — not the 90-day cap, not the paperwork. People find this rule four days before departure and there is no expedite path. If you are on any controlled medication and Korea is on your calendar, start the application the week you book the flight.
Sources
- Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, "Manual on Permit to Bring in Narcotics to Korea" (English notice, seq 72497) — online system start date of 27 December 2024, six-language user manuals
- Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, "Self Treatment Narcotics Bring in Permit" (English notice, seq 75669, posted 2023-05-26) — email/fax route, 10 business days
- Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, "자가치료용 마약류 휴대반입 절차 안내" (Korean notice, seq 43906, posted 2020-10-12) — Narcotics Policy Division, 043-719-2813
- MFDS, "Guideline on permit to bring in narcotics for self-treatment" — document list, 10-business-day period, 90-day and 5-day caps, cannabis/cannabidiol definition. Read via two government-hosted mirrors (University of Utah Asia Campus; Republic of Türkiye) because the MFDS attachment endpoint would not serve the file. Both mirrors carry identical text; neither shows a revision date
- 의약품안전나라 (NEDRUG) e-civil application portal,
nedrug.mfds.go.kr/CCAAI01/init— portal mechanics, PDF requirement, helpdesk number - Narcotics Control Act, official English translation via Korea Legislation Research Institute — Act No. 20214, last amended 6 February 2024 (Article 4(2)7); penalty articles quoted from the 30 October 2019 translation
- U.S. Embassy Seoul, "Information on Controlled Substances" (undated) — CBD and layover warning, Incheon customs authority
Verified 8 August 2026. Rules change. If you are reading this months later, the ten-day lead time and the portal address are the two things worth re-checking before you rely on them.
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