Korea Customs Allowance: Duty-Free Limits and What to Declare

How much can you bring into Korea duty free?

You can bring in goods with a combined taxable value of up to US$800 without paying duty. The Korea Customs Service passenger guide sets this as the general allowance per traveler.

Tools a non-resident visitor needs for work count as personal belongings.

What are the limits for alcohol, cigarettes and perfume?

Liquor, cigarettes and perfume have their own allowance, separate from the US$800. Korea Customs Service allows:

• Liquor up to 2L in total volume, worth no more than US$400
• 200 cigarettes
• 20ml of liquid nicotine for e-cigarettes, with nicotine under 1%
• 100ml of perfume

Incheon Airport describes the cigarette allowance as one carton. Travelers under 19 get no exemption for liquor or cigarettes, and Korea Customs Service counts age by year of birth.

Item	Duty-free limit (as of October 2026)
General goods	US$800 total taxable value
Liquor	2L total, worth US$400 or less
Cigarettes	200 (one carton)
E-cigarette liquid nicotine	20ml, nicotine under 1%
Perfume	100ml
Farm, livestock and fishery products	5kg per item, 40kg total, up to ₩100,000
Liquor and cigarette age rule	19 or older, by birth year

Is there a limit on food and farm products?

Yes. Agricultural, livestock and fishery products have a tighter cap: 5kg of each item, 40kg altogether, and a value of no more than ₩100,000. Korea Customs Service also puts meat, fruit, vegetables, live fish, plants and other foods on its list of goods to declare, including processed products. A small, cheap snack can still need a declaration, so declare food and let officers decide.

What must you declare on arrival?

You must declare anything above the allowances above, plus several types of goods at any value. The Korea Customs Service list includes:

• Goods above the duty-free allowances
• Commercial goods, samples and goods brought in for repair
• Firearms, swords, explosives, gas sprayers, tasers, crossbows, toxic or radioactive material and eavesdropping devices
• Narcotics, psychoactive drugs, hemp products and medicines open to misuse
• Animals, plants, meat, fruit, vegetables, live fish and other foods
• Wildlife and products protected under CITES, such as items made from elephant, tiger, turtle, coral or orchid
• Counterfeit brand goods and anything else that infringes intellectual property
• Goods you took out of Korea and are bringing back
• Cash and other payment means above US$10,000

Some goods, such as forged money or securities and obscene material, should not be brought in at all.

How do you declare cash over US$10,000?

You report the amount on the traveler declaration and receive a certificate from customs. The Korea Customs Service currency page adds foreign currency, Korean won notes and won cashier’s checks together to reach the US$10,000 total.

Answer yes to item 3 on the form, write the amount, and hand it to a customs officer. Korea Customs Service says failing to report can mean up to 1 year in prison or a fine of up to ₩100,000,000. If you are thinking of carrying a lot of cash, the cash and cards guide covers how widely cards work instead.

Step by step: clearing customs

1. Before you land, check your bags against the limits and the declaration list, including any food.
2. If nothing applies, you do not need a form. Collect your bags and take the no declaration lane.
3. If something applies, fill in a declaration. Use the paper form or the Traveler Customs Declaration app or website, which offers English, Chinese and Japanese. One form covers a family entering together.
4. Take the goods to declare lane and give the officer your form or online declaration.

Customs is a separate step from immigration. Your arrival card and K-ETA cover immigration only; see the e-Arrival card guide for that part.

What does declaring save you, and what does skipping it cost?

Declaring goods over the allowance yourself cuts the standard customs duty by 30%. Korea Customs Service offers the cut as a reward for reporting honestly.

Goods that officers find undeclared cost you the regular tax plus a 40% surcharge. The surcharge becomes 60% if you are caught twice or more within 2 years.

Situation	Duty you pay
You declare goods above the allowance	Standard duty minus 30%
Undeclared goods found, first time	Regular tax plus 40%
Undeclared goods found twice or more in 2 years	Regular tax plus 60%

Incheon Airport adds that false declarations under the Customs Act can lead to confiscation, fines or prison.

What goes wrong for visitors, and how do you fix it?

A packet of instant noodles or sausage turns into a huge fine. Meat hides in flavor sachets, jerky and flight snacks. A Seoul Metropolitan Government report from 2 December 2019 puts the fine for undeclared pork products from countries with African swine fever at ₩5,000,000 the first time, ₩7,500,000 the second and ₩10,000,000 the third, with other livestock products at ₩1,000,000, ₩3,000,000 and ₩5,000,000. These figures come from that city report, not from a quarantine agency page. Finish or bin such snacks before landing, or declare them to quarantine officers.

Officers question the pills in your bag. Korea’s consulate in Atlanta says non-narcotic medicines are allowed up to 6 bottles or three months’ supply. Carry the prescription, a medical certificate or the pharmacy label, and keep pills in their original packs. Medicines with narcotic or psychoactive ingredients need a Ministry of Food and Drug Safety permit before you fly.

Your dollars are under US$10,000 but your total is not. Korea Customs Service counts won notes and cashier’s checks too. Add everything up and declare if the total passes US$10,000.

A teenager carries the family’s duty-free bottles. Travelers under 19 by birth year get no liquor or cigarette exemption, so a bottle in their bag is taxed. Split the allowance among adults only.

When these limits do not apply

Commercial goods and samples fall outside the traveler allowance and always need a declaration. Prohibited goods cannot come in at any value. The figures here come from Korea Customs Service and Incheon Airport pages checked on 29 October 2026, and allowances can change, so check the official page before you fly.