Illegal Imports of Wegovy and Mounjaro Surge 3.5-Fold in Korea in First Half of 2026
核心洞察
South Korea's customs authorities detected 4,155 illegal import attempts of the obesity (搜索) drugs Wegovy and Mounjaro between January and June 2026, roughly 3.5 times the 1,189 cases recorded for all of 2025.
International postal shipments accounted for 84.8 percent of seized cases, driven by individual online purchases from overseas websites for direct delivery.
Wegovy and Mounjaro are designated hazardous drugs by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (搜索), so customs blocks and destroys them at the border regardless of quantity.
South Korean customs authorities detected 4,155 cases of illegal imports of the obesity (搜索) drugs Wegovy (semaglutide) and Mounjaro (tirzepatide) in the first half of 2026, a figure roughly 3.5 times the 1,189 cases recorded for all of last year, according to the Korea Customs Service (搜索).
The surge reflects a wave of individual online purchases shipped through the international postal system. Seizures have climbed steeply since the two drugs launched in South Korea, rising from just four cases in 2024 to 1,189 in 2025 and topping 4,000 in the first six months of this year alone. Cumulative seizures from 2024 through June reached 5,348, dwarfing the 596 shipments that cleared customs through licensed importers over the same period.
Postal Shipments Dominate Illegal Imports
Most of the illegal imports involved direct overseas purchases sent through international mail. Cases detected through postal shipments rose from two in 2024 to 1,046 last year and 3,489 in the first half of this year, accounting for 84.8 percent of all cases detected over the period as buyers increasingly ordered the drugs from overseas websites for direct delivery.
Cases involving travelers personally bringing the drugs into Korea also increased sharply, from one in 2024 to 134 last year and 656 in the first half of this year. Imports through express shipments totaled one, nine and 10 cases, respectively, over the same periods.
Regulatory Classification and Enforcement
Ordinary medicines may be brought into Korea in limited quantities for personal use. Wegovy and Mounjaro, however, are designated as "harmful drugs" by the Minister of Food and Drug Safety and cannot be brought into the country in any quantity without a recommendation for exemption from import requirements verification.
The Korea Customs Service (搜索) is holding all Wegovy and Mounjaro products detected during customs clearance and subsequently destroying them. The agency said it would rigorously choke off the flow of hazardous drugs at the border.
"Bringing Wegovy and Mounjaro into the country without authorization is a serious illegal act that may be punishable under the Customs Act," a Korea Customs Service (搜索) official said. "We will thoroughly block the illegal entry of harmful drugs at the border."