Movement is one of the distinct characteristics of man. People migrate or travel from their home country, state, or city to another place for various reasons. Following the statistics conducted and released by the “Statista Research Department”, the total number of foreigners in Korea numbers 1.5 million in 2020”. According to a survey report available at statista.com, foreigners make up 4.9% of Korea's total population as of 2019.
Some of the reasons why foreigners find their way into Korea vary despite the unfriendly migration restrictions put in place by the immigration policies. These reasons include education, job opportunities, beauty, medical services, business, tourism, etc.
Bringing medication into Korea
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Traveling out of your country to a new place like South Korea can come with fun and anxiety, cultural shock, and introduction to strange and new policies; regardless, a necessary key to managing and having the best of your trip is proper and timely preparation and planning.
For whatever reason one leaves his abode with plans of traveling to Korea, it is sometimes pertinent in some cases that they make this trip with their medications. Every flight coming into Korea contains people who are either allergic to a substance or environment, chronic diseases like cancer, stroke, arthritis, blood infection, heart disease, diabetics, pregnant or nursing mothers, and people who experience altitude phobia and lots more. Medications are always part of travelers' kits for personal use, business, or research purposes. In this article, we hope to enlighten you on the necessary rules to bringing medications to Korea and procedures to follow. The accepted medications in Korea will help you have a stress-free and easy preparation.
The first step which ought to be adhered to strictly is the clarification check and Country health advice for Korea through the National Travel Health Network and Center (NaTHNaC) website (Travel Health Pro), or write a formal application to the Narcotics Control Division of the Korean Food and Drug Administration. This application belonging to the Korean FDA will help you to know what you are expected to come into Korea with as a foreigner. A check on the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety Website for Korea will also provide the necessary information. It is essential to do this check eight (8) weeks before traveling as changes and updates are likely to be made, and they do not come with prior notice.
Furthermore, when coming into Korea with medications intended for your personal use and administration, you are required to bring an English translation of your doctor’s prescription with the names of the drugs written in their generic terms, a medical report note from your doctor stating why you will be needing the medications and the medical condition requiring such prescription. This is differently called Medical Passport. Certain prescription drugs, if considered to be a controlled substance, must be thoroughly subjected to the testing and regulations by the Korean Food and Drug Administration and the Korea Customs Service.
Drugs like marijuana, hemp extract products, and CBD oil are highly regulated in Korea and are generally banned from entry into Korea regardless of whether it is a prescription medication or not. Default to this regulation can lead to either arrest by the Korean Custom Police or direct deportation. As stated under the policies of the Narcotics Division of the Korean Food and Drug Administration (KFDA), any medication with a trace of narcotics (that is any drug or substance that affects the mood or behavior, relieves pain, incites drowsiness, haze, or oblivion and likely consumed for non-medical reason) is highly prohibited from entering Korea. Examples of these narcotic drugs include Viagra, Cialis, hemp, MDMA, heroin, cocaine, opium, Philopon, and diet boost pills.
Other prescription drugs which do not contain narcotics are allowed with a maximum of 6 bottles of each medication, approximately equal to three months' supply of such medication provided that it is for personal use. It is most often recommended that extra quantity is included to help in a case of flight delay or spills.
Consequently, in a case where your prescribed medication was not allowed into Korea, there are alternate options available for you. As a foreigner, you can take your prescription note from your doctor to a Korean doctor for a similar product either from the same company or a substitute medication. You can also get to choose from its local equivalent in Korea as there are varieties of every medication at a cheaper rate.
Legal use of Marijuana
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Interestingly, South Korea, in 2020, became the first Asian country to approve the use of marijuana in medicine and its applications in other industries, thereby making it legal within the country. Although Korea has always had very strong rules against the use of such narcotic drugs, however, with this clamor for the legalization of marijuana for medical use, there are high and positive chances that marijuana might become legalized as the years went by in South Korea for medical use as it is beneficial for the cure of rare sicknesses in patients with no other medical treatment option.
In order to fully achieve this legalization, narcotics like CBD oil, hemp, or cannabis might have to be made legal to continue the legal use of marijuana. In addition to the legalization action, it has been discovered that CBD has no known side effects as they were tested for neurological and brain diseases, and it has been revealed that, on the contrary, there are many windfalls to the human body. Irrespective of this request, the laws in Korea will stay strict regardless of its approval.
These legal cannabis-based drugs that must be for medical use with a doctor’s approved prescription are presently in some forms in the Korean market and they include Epidiolex, Satives, canemes and marinol.
Drug test policy for foreign teachers
In December 2007, foreigners coming into Korea, especially teachers, were mandated to undergo a drug test as a prerequisite for their Visa extension. Although this policy was kicked against in 2009 by Andrea Vandom (an American teacher) who complained about the directive and took up her concerns to the Constitutional Court in Korea. After the first dismissal of his petition In 2013, Vandom further petitioned the United Nations Human Rights Committee, and the Korean National Human Rights Commission, stating that the policy was discriminatory against the noble profession.
However, a mandatory drug test policy for teachers in Korea was introduced in 2021, and this has been practiced to date.
List of documents required when bringing medications into Korea
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1. Doctor’s prescription and medical report: This report which is required from your consulting doctor, contains the list of drugs you are carrying with you, an ailment you are treating, and products you are allergic to. This note usually comes with a medical passport.
2. A separate bag (Carrier bag) containing your prescription medication to avoid displacement. This is also necessary for medications that come in gel and liquids to prevent spillage.
3. A pass note or medical certificate from the Korean Food and Drug Administration.
4. Drug test certificate for foreign teachers coming into Korea.
According to the Korean Food and Drug Administration, the steps involved to get a medical certificate or pass note on application includes submission of the following:
1. One passport copy (clearly visible and legible)
2. A copy of your prescription (for each controlled medicine you will be bringing into Korea, and it must be recently issued in order to confirm validity)
3. A doctor's letter/note indicating medication dosage and total volume and quantity to be conveyed.
4. An e-ticket copy (both tickets for your arrival into and your departure from Korea)
5. An application form
6. A document certifying school/course admission (this is for foreigners on study visit)
Kindly note that
1. The quantity on application 03 means the total quantity of medicine you carry into Korea, and it should be the amount you will consume all during the visit based on the doctor's letter, your prescription, and e-ticket duration.
2. You should certainly indicate the appropriate quantity of each medicine you carry into Korea in both applications (and this must be written in both trade name and ingredients name). (e.g. Taleaje tablet (Mirogablin besilate), 200 pills in total (100 mg/day))
3. Endeavour that all documents are submitted as soon as possible because issuing permit takes up to 10 days from the date of accepting your application.
4. In a case where you are on a temporary visit to Korea, you can get an inbound permit from the Korean FDA division. But otherwise, where you plan to stay in Korea for a longer time, it is necessary to submit some documents to verify your stay. The maximum dosage of medicine allowed into Korea is one that will be sufficient for 3 months, and sending controlled substances by parcel post for personal use is strictly illegal and unlawful as it can attract severe punishment.
List of some approved medications in Korea
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· Vizimpro tablet (15mg, 45mg, 30mg)(dacomitinib monohydrate). This is an imported drug produced by Pfizer, and it is a first-line drug recommended for the treatment of patients who have remote Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) with mutations in their Epithetal cell growth.
· Ultromiris Injection (Ravulizumab). This is a product of Wandok, and it is a medication used to treat patients with high risk, non-metastatic, and castration-resistant prostate cancer.
· Erleada tablet (apahitamide) produced by Janssen Korea Limited- For the best result from this drug, it is usually combined with Androgen Deprivation Therapy for the cure of ailments associated with the metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (mHSPC)
· Zebinix tablet(400mg 200mg, 600mg 800mg) This drug is a monotherapy for partial seizures in the presence or absence of secondary systemic epileptic attacks in adults who have been diagnosed with epilepsy. This product is all beneficial in the adjunct therapy for partial seizures in children who are within the age range of 6 years and above with or without secondary systemic seizures.
· Talzena capsules(1mg, 0.25mg) (talazoperibtosylate). This is a Pfizer product for adult patients diagnosed with breast cancer who have previously undergone chemotherapy and are also diagnosed with Hermione BRCA (gBRCA) germline HER-2 negative breast cancer.
· Taleage Tablet (10mg, 2.5mg, 15mg, 5mg) (mirogablin besilate). A product of Daiichi Sanky Korea Limited is used to treat peripheral neuropathic pain.
· Ranoxa prolonged-release tablet (375mg, 500mg) (ranolazine). A drug used as a combined treatment for symptomatic management of people with steady angina which is not efficiently managed with first-option angina medication. Also used for people who have zero tolerance for angina treatment.
· Beovu solution for injection – Used to cure and manage endovascular age-related vascular regression.
· Resyno ONE injection- Used as osteoarthritis of knee joint.
· Crysvita solution for injection(10mg, 20mg, 30mg)(burosumab genetically recombination). This is an FGF 23 related hypophosphatemia rickets and osteomalacia.
More detailed and well-explained data on drug dose, medication efficiency, side effects, and precautions during and after usage can be found here.
Refilling your prescription medication in Korea
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In an instance where your prescription medications are exhausted, and you still have more time to stay in Korea, there are few alternate options for you as a foreigner. Note that drugs are not dispensed without them being prescribed by a physician, and they ought to be dispensed by a licensed pharmacist.
To restock your exhausted medications, your options are
· You can take your doctor’s prescription to a Korean doctor.
· Go to a pharmacy with a sample bottle or tube of your medication
· Give any qualified doctor the name of your medication for a prescription of a substitute if your exact prescription is not available in the Korean market. This service is rendered for a fee ranging from 5000 won to 25000 won depending on the clinic and doctor involved
In some scenarios, before a substitute or new prescription is given by a doctor, a physical test and thorough examination are usually conducted to ascertain the compatibility of the prescription medications. Also, because most Korean drugs are labeled in the Korean language, it will be necessary to have an English instruction written by the doctor and explained in detail to the patient in a case where the doctor speaks English.
While coming to Korea can be fun and exciting with numerous expectations, the challenges of bringing in medications can be addressed with the adequate information listed and discussed above. Save yourself the embarrassment and regret by learning from this article. Have a safe journey to South Korea.
