Start with the active ingredient
A prescription from home does not by itself authorise entry with a controlled medicine. Give the generic ingredient, strength, dose and quantity to Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) through its application service before travel. ADHD, sleep and pain medicines may require advance approval; check the actual formulation rather than assuming that every product in a category is treated alike.
Korea’s narcotics legislation contains the schedules. For codeine combinations, Rule 2 specifies both concentration and per-dose limits, alongside requirements for other active ingredients. A cough-medicine label is not proof of an exemption. Ask MFDS to confirm your particular product.
Apply for approval before carrying controlled medicine
The permission is called 자가치료용 마약류 휴대반입 — carrying controlled medicine in for self-treatment. Its legal basis is Rule 5(1)6 of the Enforcement Rule, which makes carrying a narcotic or psychotropic in or out for your own treatment one of the few things a person who is not a licensed handler may lawfully do — provided the Ministry has approved it.
Applications have been submitted online through Drug Safety Korea (의약품안전나라) since 27 December 2024. The process uses email verification and a password for access to your application, without requiring a Korean identity check. Follow the current form and upload instructions. The service provides manuals in several languages.
The Korean embassy’s application notice identifies the required supporting documents:
- Upload a full-page passport copy with the photograph and number clearly readable.
- Upload the flight ticket showing your name, flight number, and entry and exit dates.
- Upload the prescription and a doctor’s certificate. The certificate must identify the clinic, patient and prescribing doctor, include the doctor’s signature and issue date, and state the diagnosis, active ingredient, administration method, dose and total quantity.
- If you intend to use an export approval from your home government in place of the prescription and doctor’s certificate, check that it meets the listed alternative-document requirements.
Documents must be in Korean or English; anything else needs a notarised translation attached to the original.
The limits, stated plainly. The maximum allowed is a 90-day supply, and permission is cut to your actual travel dates — if you are staying two weeks you may bring two weeks' worth, plus up to five days spare for delays and long flights. Onward travel from Korea counts if you attach that ticket too. All of it must be in hand baggage. Sending controlled medicine by post or courier is banned outright, and a parcel caught at customs is returned or destroyed. The approval and medicine must be in the actual traveller’s name; do not use a friend’s or family member’s permit. Stay longer than three months, or fail to get permission, and the Ministry's own advice is to be prescribed a substitute in Korea.
Apply at least ten working days before travel. Allow additional time for corrections. Late or incomplete applications can be rejected. Long stays for work or study may require supporting documents.
Do not travel with a controlled medicine before approval. Unauthorised import can be a criminal offence. The consequences depend on the substance and conduct; one penalty range does not describe every traveller’s case.
Cannabis and CBD
The embassy warns that cannabis-derived products, including CBD products, can fall under Korean controls even if sold legally at home. Do not pack consumer CBD oils, gummies or cannabis products. For a prescribed cannabis-derived medicine, ask MFDS about the specific product and permitted procedure before planning to carry it. An ordinary prescription or another medicine’s approval is not sufficient.
Keep ordinary medicines clearly identified
For ordinary medicine, keep clear identification and a trip-appropriate quantity. Other import restrictions can still apply, so confirm any uncertain ingredient with MFDS or Customs:
- Keep medicines in their original labelled packaging so that the ingredient and strength can be identified.
- Carry the prescription or a doctor’s letter showing the active ingredient, strength and prescribed dose. Brand names can differ between countries.
- Carry a quantity appropriate to your trip and within any applicable import limit.
- Ask Customs about any uncertain declaration requirement and use the declaration channel when required. “What can't I bring into Korea?” explains customs declarations and import restrictions; “The immigration desk and fingerprint scan” covers the inspection desk itself.
Arrange airport assistance before flying
Incheon Airport offers free wheelchair loans at information desks. Its powered-wheelchair loan service is near T1 third-floor entrances 7–8; reserve suitable equipment and confirm availability. Contact 1577-2600 for airport assistance.
The departure priority lanes are at T1 exits 2–5 and T2 1D/2A. Eligibility includes travellers aged 70 or over, children under seven, qualifying disabled passengers and pregnant travellers, with up to three companions. Documents differ by category; ask your airline about recognition of overseas disability documents.
The T1 assistance centre operates 07:00–19:00 on 032-741-2082. It lists Korean disability welfare-card holders departing T1 as eligible and asks for reservations at least three hours before departure. Overseas visitors should confirm accepted evidence rather than assume eligibility.
Request arrival assistance from your airline too. Asiana describes support through arrival and immigration for eligible passengers, and wheelchair assistance through the terminal. A departure-lane page does not establish that arrival help is unavailable.
Boarding and immigration
Under the Aviation Business Act Enforcement Rule, request the specified boarding-equipment and checked-mobility-aid priority services 48 hours before departure. Unavoidable operational exceptions apply. Priority seats are required; an adjacent companion seat may be assigned. Staff must not lift or carry you without consent except in an unavoidable emergency.
For immigration, use a staffed counter if an automated gate is unsuitable. Eligibility for entry gates differs from departure eligibility; see “The immigration desk and fingerprint scan” for the current country and age conditions. For immigration questions, 1345 provides multilingual assistance on weekdays; language availability narrows after 18:00.
