Compare services and get a current quote
Every one of these is bought at the same post-office window. Korea Post (우체국) publishes the whole tariff — the international rate tables and a downloadable price book.
EMS (국제특급우편) is the fast one: tracked in 59 countries, 2–3 days to Tokyo or Singapore, 3–5 days elsewhere, up to 30 kg.
| Weight | 🇺🇸 US | 🇬🇧 UK | 🇩🇪 Germany | 🇫🇷 France | 🇦🇺 Australia | 🇨🇦 Canada | 🇯🇵 Japan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5 kg | ₩39,000 | ₩39,500 | ₩43,500 | ₩31,500 | ₩33,500 | ₩30,000 | ₩26,000 |
| 2 kg | ₩68,500 | ₩55,500 | ₩60,500 | ₩45,000 | ₩55,000 | ₩49,500 | ₩35,500 |
| 5 kg | ₩128,500 | ₩91,000 | ₩88,500 | ₩73,500 | ₩81,000 | ₩89,500 | ₩43,500 |
| 10 kg | ₩233,500 | ₩163,000 | ₩150,500 | ₩125,500 | ₩136,500 | ₩166,500 | ₩63,500 |
| 20 kg | ₩441,000 | ₩307,000 | ₩278,500 | ₩242,000 | ₩252,000 | ₩327,500 | ₩98,500 |
| 30 kg | ₩650,000 | ₩456,000 | ₩406,000 | ₩359,000 | ₩373,000 | ₩480,000 | ₩132,500 |
Air parcel (항공소포) uses air transport with a different service level from EMS, and a 20 kg ceiling — roughly half the EMS price on a heavy box:
| Weight | 🇺🇸 US | 🇬🇧 UK | 🇩🇪 Germany | 🇫🇷 France | 🇦🇺 Australia | 🇨🇦 Canada | 🇯🇵 Japan |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5 kg | ₩23,500 | ₩26,000 | ₩19,500 | ₩25,000 | ₩18,500 | ₩23,000 | ₩17,000 |
| 5 kg | ₩71,000 | ₩51,000 | ₩50,000 | ₩39,000 | ₩52,000 | ₩59,000 | ₩28,500 |
| 10 kg | ₩128,000 | ₩86,000 | ₩84,500 | ₩64,000 | ₩91,500 | ₩99,500 | ₩42,000 |
| 20 kg | ₩242,500 | ₩156,000 | ₩152,500 | ₩115,500 | ₩170,000 | ₩180,000 | ₩68,000 |
Sea parcel (선편소포) is priced by zone and is startlingly cheap. The US, Canada, the whole of western Europe, Australia and New Zealand are all zone 3; Japan, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao are zone 1.
| Weight | Zone 1 | Zone 2 | Zone 3 | Zone 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 kg | ₩15,500 | ₩17,000 | ₩18,500 | ₩20,000 |
| 10 kg | ₩34,000 | ₩35,500 | ₩43,000 | ₩50,500 |
| 20 kg | ₩57,000 | ₩58,500 | ₩74,000 | ₩89,000 |
The catch is time: 50–70 days to Australia on the published average, up to 80–120 when ships are full, and 70–90 days to the United Kingdom. Sea parcels are for winter coats, ceramics, books and anything you will not miss until the season turns.
Two costs sit on top of all three. Chargeable weight is whichever is greater, actual or volumetric — a light, bulky box of skincare is priced as though it were dense. And a home collection by Korea Post costs ₩3,000 for the first item, ₩1,000 for each extra, capped at ₩5,000.
For anything under 2 kg, K-Packet is a tracked light-parcel service to about fifty countries: a 1 kg box is ₩23,430 to the US, ₩17,590 to the UK, ₩14,090 to Japan — roughly half the EMS price for a small box of masks.
What you are not allowed to post
Korea Post's prohibited-items register is item-by-item and blunt. A parcel can be rejected or returned if it contains prohibited goods. Ask how a return would be handled if you will already have left Korea.
| What | Verdict |
|---|---|
| Lithium-ion or lithium-metal batteries, and anything containing one | Refused. No exceptions — laptops, tablets, e-readers, phones, shavers, e-cigarettes, thermometers, headsets, toys. Built-in batteries too; only a battery-free body may go. |
| Perfume (향수) | Refused outright. |
| Metal aerosols and pressurised cans | Refused — spray sunscreen, fabric fresheners, insect spray, pepper spray. The contents and pressure matter as well as the container material; confirm acceptance before posting. |
| Nail polish, remover, alcohol wipes, alcohol-based antiseptic | Refused, or refused if the pack carries a dangerous-goods mark. |
| Cosmetics generally | Allowed if there is no dangerous-goods mark; never in a metal pressurised can; decanted samples need a safety data sheet. |
| Skin, cream, mist, hair dye | Allowed unless it is a spray can or carries a dangerous-goods mark. |
| Cleansing oil, sheet packs, hand creams, toothpaste | Allowed as sealed finished products. |
| Spirits | Allowed only unopened, commercially sold and under 60% ABV. |
| Counterfeits | Prohibited under Universal Postal Union rules — “Counterfeit risk and where not to buy”. |
Destinations add their own import restrictions. Food, plants, medicines and animal products need particular attention. Check both Korea Post’s country conditions and the destination authority’s rules for the exact product; a broad label such as “snacks” is not enough to establish acceptance.
Do not put power banks in a postal parcel without checking the service’s restrictions. If carrying them on your flight, follow the airline’s cabin-baggage, capacity and handling rules; see “Charging, plugs, power banks, and airline rules for them”.
If you claimed the tax refund, get the parcel receipt
A Korean tax refund is only valid once customs at your departure airport has confirmed the goods left the country, and the normal way to do that is to show the goods. Post them home and you have nothing to show — unless you have the right piece of paper.
The tax-refund decree allows a document to be presented instead of the goods where they have been sent separately, and its enforcement rule, amended 2 January 2026, names exactly two:
- The parcel receipt (소포 수령증) issued by the postmaster, if you sent it by parcel post.
- An export declaration (수출신고필증) from the customs office, for anything else.
So post it at a post office, keep the receipt, and take it with your passport to the customs desk at Incheon. A private courier's receipt is not on the list. And the goods must leave Korea within three months of purchase; if any do not, immediate refunds switch off for everything you buy after that window closes.
Check destination customs charges
The destination determines any import charges. The examples below have different thresholds, exceptions and procedures; check the rules for your actual parcel.
| Destination | Where the tax starts | What it means for a personal parcel |
|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 United States | The general low-value duty exemption was suspended. Executive Order 14324 suspended duty-free treatment of low-value shipments from 29 August 2025, "regardless of value or origin", postal shipments included. | Do not assume a parcel is duty-free because it is under US$800. Check any applicable category-specific exemption and current charges. |
| 🇪🇺 European Union | €3 per item category for covered low-value parcels. Council Regulation (EU) 2026/382 deleted the €150 duty relief and charges €3 per item on consignments up to €150, from 1 July 2026 until 1 July 2028. Import VAT (value-added tax) has applied from the first cent since 2021. | The charge follows the applicable customs categories, not simply the number of physical products. Check the parcel’s classification and scope. |
| 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | £135. HMRC charges VAT on everything except gifts worth £39 or less; customs duty starts above £135. | Under £135 you pay VAT but no duty, plus the courier's handling fee. |
| 🇦🇺 Australia | A$1,000. The Border Force: no change to the A$1,000 threshold at the border; below it, GST is collected by registered sellers at the point of sale. | Check the parcel’s value, contents and whether any tax was collected at purchase. |
| 🇨🇦 Canada | CA$20. The CBSA applies duty and taxes to all goods by mail above a $20 exemption, plus a Canada Post handling fee. | Check the applicable exemption and any postal handling charge. |
| 🇯🇵 Japan | ¥10,000. Japan Customs exempts goods up to ¥10,000 — not leather bags, gloves, knitted tops, ski boots or leather shoes. | The low-value exemption excludes specified products, so check the classification as well as the value. |
A tax-refunded purchase can still be taxed on arrival. Getting your Korean VAT back and paying import VAT at home are two separate events, and both can happen to the same jar of cream. Under-declaring the value is a customs offence everywhere listed above.
Couriers, forwarders and hotels
DHL, FedEx and UPS operate in Korea and quote per address rather than from a public tariff; compare their quotes and delivery estimates with Korea Post, and their receipts are not on the customs list above. EMS Premium is Korea Post's own reselling of that kind of service, for the 72 countries plain EMS does not reach.
Forwarders (배송대행) — a Korean address that receives your online orders and consolidates them — are built for people buying from abroad, not for a visitor standing in Myeongdong (명동, central Seoul's main shopping street, and its cosmetics district) with three bags. If you are already in Korea, compare a post-office quote with the forwarder’s total charges and collection arrangements.
Hotels vary completely. A business hotel's concierge will usually call a courier for you and charge you for it; a guesthouse may or may not offer this help. Ask on arrival, and treat the post office as the plan.
Doing it
Any post office takes international mail during normal hours, and there is a counter on level 2 at Incheon Terminal 1, open 09:00–18:00 — useful, but the parcel receipt has to exist before you reach the customs desk, so post in town if a refund is riding on it.
Complete the customs declaration accurately, using the form required for your service and parcel value. CN22 and CN23 are customs forms; the distinction is not simply documents versus goods. Korea Post publishes the EMS app manual in several languages and an international postal guide for foreigners; pre-registering the parcel in the app before the counter earns a discount and saves the handwriting. The customer line is 1588-1300, weekdays 09:00–18:00.
