Moving to South Korea: customs & quarantine checklist

Korea Customs Service clears your household goods; the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency checks anything of plant or animal origin. Answer five questions to see whether your goods qualify for the moving-goods duty exemption (used abroad for three months or more, arriving within six months of you), then check every item against the quarantine and prohibited lists before you pack.

Moving-Goods Declaration (이사물품 신고서 / 이사물품반입내역서) — filed in the mover's name · Korea Customs Service (KCS) + Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency (APQA) · last reviewed 15 October 2026 against the official sources below

1. Do my goods clear duty-free? (Duty exemption for moving goods (이사물품 면세) — Customs Act)

What is taxed and what is not

• Qualifying used household goods (used abroad for more than three months, within household quantity limits): no customs duty, no VAT.
• Taxable items — used under three months, new goods, excess furniture or appliances, goods for someone else: customs duty at the item's tariff rate plus individual consumption tax (or liquor tax), education tax and special rural development tax where applicable, then 10 % VAT on the total. Jewellery, pearls, coral, amber, tortoiseshell and ivory worth KRW 5 million or more per piece are always taxed.
• Vehicles (unless originally exported from Korea): dutiable value = new price in the Blue Book × residual value rate + freight + insurance; duty 8 % + individual consumption tax 5 % + education tax 30 % of the ICT + 10 % VAT — roughly 19 % of dutiable value up to 1,000 cc and about 24 % above 1,000 cc. Then a temporary operating permit (10 days), new-vehicle inspection (KRW 131,000) and local registration tax.
• Quarantine: inspection by APQA, plus treatment, destruction or return of non-compliant items at your cost. A dog or cat that fails the microchip or antibody check is quarantined (average 10 days) or returned at the owner's expense.

2. Can I ship it? — APQA item checker

South Korea inspects household shipments for anything that came from, or touched, animals, plants, meat, soil or untreated wood — APQA protects a livestock and farming sector that has fought foot-and-mouth disease and African swine fever. KCS separately bans obscene and counterfeit goods and restricts firearms, narcotics, CITES species and wiretapping devices. Search an item or filter by category. Statuses follow the official KCS and APQA pages linked below.

How to pack so you clear inspection first time

1. Separate everything used less than three months (and anything still boxed) and list it with values — it is assessed separately, and leaving it off the declaration costs a 20 % surcharge.
2. Clean every item that touched the outdoors, food, animals or soil until no trace remains, then let it dry — soil is a prohibited import.
3. Leave out meat, dairy, eggs, fresh produce, live plants and soil altogether; declare any remaining food and plant products so APQA can inspect them.
4. Check that wooden crates and pallets are debarked and carry the NPPO treatment mark — unmarked packaging is destroyed or returned.
5. Number every box and write materials on the packing list ("wooden chair ×4", "metal bed frame"); note the box numbers of declared items on the moving-goods declaration.
6. Travel first: the goods must arrive within six months of your entry and cannot clear until you have entered Korea and the declaration is filed in your name. When in doubt, declare — you are penalised for not declaring, never for declaring.

Penalties and costs

• Taxable items left off the moving-goods declaration: a surcharge of 20 % of the tax due, or a notice of disposition under the Customs Act.
• Travellers who fail to declare dutiable goods on arrival pay an additional 40 % duty (60 % if caught twice within two years); declaring voluntarily earns a 30 % reduction in customs duty.
• Customs Act criminal offences: smuggling — up to five years' imprisonment or a fine up to the higher of ten times the duty or the goods' value, with the goods confiscated; duty evasion — up to three years or a fine up to the higher of five times the evaded duty or the goods' value.
• Undeclared livestock products: fines of up to KRW 10 million — KRW 5 million / 7.5 million / 10 million for first, second and third offences involving pork from African swine fever countries, and KRW 1 million / 3 million / 5 million for other products. Prohibited plants are destroyed or returned, and a non-compliant pet is quarantined or returned at the owner's expense.

Fees and penalty amounts are revised regularly — confirm current figures on the official pages below before you ship.

FAQ

Read next

• Moving to Seoul from Abroad (2026): Complete Relocation Guide
• Moving from the UK to South Korea (2026): Complete Guide
• Moving Guides — South Korea
• Moving volume calculator — how many m³ is your move?
• Keep, sell or ship? — is it worth moving your furniture abroad?
• Moving inventory list template (PDF, Word, Excel)

Official sources

• Korea Customs Service — Customs Clearance for Moving Household Effects to Korea (Moving to Korea)
• Korea Customs Service — Customs Clearance Guide for Passengers (allowances, declaration, prohibited and restricted goods)
• Korea Customs Service — Sanctions against items exceeding the duty-free allowance
• Korea Customs Service — Simplified tax rate table (individual consumption tax)
• 관세청 — 이사자 판정 (who qualifies as a mover, taxable items, proof documents)
• 관세청 — 이사물품 통관절차 (6-month arrival rule, documents, 20 % surcharge, prohibited and restricted goods, taxes)
• 관세청 — 자동차 통관절차 (vehicle eligibility and tax rates incl. 10 % VAT)
• 관세청 — 통관예약 및 자동차 등록절차 (UNI-PASS booking, temporary permit, inspection fee)
• 관세청 — 여행자 휴대품 통관 (US$800 allowance, 2 L / US$400 alcohol, 200 cigarettes, 30 % reduction, 40 %/60 % surcharge)
• 관세청 — 불성실 신고 (Customs Act penalties: smuggling, duty evasion)
• APQA — Bringing cats and dogs to the Republic of Korea
• APQA — Import Plant Quarantine: Rules to follow (import-prohibited items)
• APQA — Plant Protection Act, Article 8 (phytosanitary certificate)
• APQA — Regulations for wood packaging materials
• APQA — Quarantine and inspection of imported animals and livestock products
• Ministry of Food and Drug Safety — Permit to bring in narcotics for self-treatment
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs — MFDS Guideline on permit to bring in narcotics for self-treatment (90-day limit)
• Korea Office of Civil Aviation — AIP GEN 1.4 (quarantine declarations and fines for livestock and plant products)

This checker summarises public rules as at the review date for planning purposes. Customs and biosecurity decisions are made by the officers on arrival; your Flyto coordinator confirms the current conditions for your visa and shipment.