Korea Customs publishes two separate sets of rules: what is duty-free up to a value, and what is restricted whatever it is worth. The allowance figures below are from its Korean-language traveller page, read on 11 October 2026. The English page this guide first quoted now covers postal items only, so the allowance wording is given here in plain English, not as quotations.
The $800 allowance
The general duty-free threshold is US$800 of total taxable value. Farm, livestock and fishery products count inside it with their own ceiling: 5 kg of each item, 40 kg in total, and no more than KRW 100,000 paid for them abroad.
Liquor, cigarettes, e-cigarettes and perfume
These get an allowance on top of the US$800:
- Liquor: up to 2 litres in total, valued at no more than US$400 in total.
- Cigarettes: 200 filter cigarettes.
- E-cigarette or nicotine liquid: 20 ml, under 1 percent nicotine.
- Perfume: 100 ml.
Korea Customs’ older English allowance page still shows US$600, one 1-litre bottle and 60 ml of perfume. The Korean page is the current one.
Minors
Travellers under 19 get no liquor or tobacco allowance. Age is counted by year of birth, not exact age on the day of travel.
Declaring goods over the allowance
Declare goods over the allowance yourself and the duty is cut by 30 percent. If customs finds them undeclared, it adds 40 percent of the tax due, or 60 percent for a second offence within two years.
Restricted goods
Restricted goods are not measured against the $800 figure: they must meet every clearance requirement whatever their value. The Korean page names firearms, narcotics, and animals and plants listed under CITES, the endangered species convention, and their products, followed by “etc.” The list continues past what the source names, so check the Korea Customs Service page for anything else you carry.
Cash over $10,000
Means of payment over US$10,000 must be declared, under Articles 5-11(1), 6-2(2) and 6-3(1) of the Foreign Exchange Transactions Regulations. This covers payment instruments as well as banknotes.
Mail, samples and exhibition giveaways
These rules are on Korea Customs’ English postal page:
- Postal items worth “not more than US$150 which are received by a domestic resident and recognized to be intended for personal use” are duty-free. Above $150 they are dutiable.
- Sample goods: duty-free at or below $250, taxed above.
- Exhibition giveaways: duty-free only if worth “not more than US$5” per visitor and the arrangement is approved by customs.
Prohibited on political and security grounds
Korea bars “Books, publications, pictures, movies, music records, video works, sculptures or any other items of similar nature that may disturb the constitutional order or be harmful to the public security or social customs,” and “Items which may be used to disclose any confidential information of the government or engage in spy activities.” Counterfeit money is named too: “currencies, bonds and securities whicih are counterfeited, forged or copied” may not be imported.
The source gives no fine or prison term for these prohibitions.