Illegal imports of weight-loss drugs more than triple in H1

Illegal imports of weight-loss drugs more than triple in first half

South Korea's customs agency detected 4,155 cases of illegal imports of the weight-loss medications Wegovy and Mounjaro in the first half of this year, more than triple the 1,189 cases tallied for all of 2025, according to data compiled by the Korea Customs Service (KCS). Reports from The Korea Times, Lokmat Times, and Yonhap News Agency all carried the figure, citing the customs data.

The surge has been attributed to a growing number of people purchasing the drugs from overseas online malls and having them delivered via international shipping. The Korea Customs Service detected 3,489 illegal mail shipments containing Wegovy and Mounjaro in the first half of this year, more than triple the 1,046 cases recorded in all of 2025. International mail was the most common route, accounting for 84.8 percent of cases, according to The Korea Times.

Travelers also accounted for a notable share: 656 cases involved the medications being carried by individual travelers, up from 134 cases last year, as reported by The Korea Times and Yonhap. Wegovy and Mounjaro are banned from being brought into the country in travelers' hand luggage.

The rise in illegal imports comes as both drugs have become available domestically. Novo Nordisk's Wegovy launched in Korea in 2024, while Eli Lilly's Mounjaro followed in 2025. Illegal import cases have risen quickly since the drugs' domestic debuts, from four cases in 2024 to 1,189 last year and more than 4,000 in the first half of this year, according to The Korea Times.

By comparison, only 596 cases were formally cleared through customs via import companies over the same period, rising from 14 in 2024 to 191 in 2025 and 391 in the first half of this year. Yonhap reported a slightly different legal clearance figure, stating that 391 cases of Wegovy and Mounjaro were legally cleared by customs in the first six months of the year, compared with 191 cases in all of 2025. The Korea Times's figure of 596 for the first half includes both Wegovy and Mounjaro as well as other obesity drugs, while Yonhap's figure appears to cover only the two named drugs.

Price gap and regulatory framework

A key driver behind the surge in overseas purchases is the price difference. A one-month supply of Mounjaro can be bought through overseas websites for about 150,000 won ($109), less than half the cost of the same supply obtained through a prescription at a domestic clinic, as reported by The Korea Times.

Under KCS notices, general medications can be brought into the country for personal use in limited quantities, up to six bottles or a three-month supply. However, Mounjaro and Wegovy are designated as "harmful drugs" by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and cannot be brought in without a letter certifying an exemption from import requirements, The Korea Times reported.

A customs official warned that unauthorised imports of the drugs are a serious violation. "Unauthorised imports of Wegovy and Mounjaro are a serious violation of the Customs Act and are subject to punishment," the official said, as quoted by Yonhap and Lokmat Times. "We will thoroughly block the illegal inflow of harmful pharmaceuticals at the border."

Rising domestic demand

Domestic demand for Mounjaro has been strong. According to drug utilization review data submitted by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service to Rep. Han Zee-a, Mounjaro was prescribed more than 1.5 million times between its domestic launch last August and May this year. By age group, people in their 30s accounted for 36 percent of prescriptions, followed by those in their 40s at 27.1 percent, those in their 20s at 16.9 percent, and those in their 50s at 14.6 percent, The Korea Times reported.

Prescriptions for teenagers stood at 82 at launch and surpassed 1,000 in December last year, with monthly prescriptions rising 1.5-fold from 1,739 in January to 2,594 in May.

Pharmaceutical R&D spending

The reports also noted that South Korea's major pharmaceutical companies spent around 100 billion won ($72.13 million) each in the first half for research and development of new drugs. Yuhan Corp., known for its anti-inflammatory ointment Antiphlamine, said in a regulatory filing that it invested a total of 122.2 billion won in R&D during the January-June period, up 13.8 percent from the same period last year. That amount accounts for 10.5 percent of sales generated during the first half of this year. Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical Corp. injected 113.5 billion won into new drug development in the first half, up 36.6 percent compared with its R&D spending in the first half of 2025, according to Lokmat Times.