What's Illegal inSouth Korea?

The single thing worth knowing first: Cannabis illegal even if legal in your home country. Tested at airport. It is the kind of rule that looks minor at home and becomes a serious problem at the border or in public, which is exactly why it tops this page.

Within serious offenses, South Korea treats Cannabis use abroad and North Korea content as off-limits. Carrying or doing any of these can mean confiscation, fines, or detention depending on the case — and a foreign prescription, habit, or "I didn't know" rarely helps once you are stopped. Each entry below links to the official source it is checked against, with the verified ones marked.

Two things travelers regularly get wrong about South Korea: Adderall and similar ADHD stimulants require a Korean prescription — a foreign script is not sufficient at customs; and Possessing materials sympathetic to North Korea, including souvenirs, can trigger National Security Act charges. Assumptions like these are how otherwise careful visitors end up in trouble, so it is worth checking the specifics rather than guessing.

One important caveat: Korean nationals can be prosecuted for cannabis use abroad under extraterritorial jurisdiction, and arriving tourists are subject to airport drug screening. Laws and their enforcement can shift between regions and over time, so treat this page as a sourced starting point and confirm anything borderline against the official links before you rely on it.