Pharmacies and Medicine in Korea

Korean pharmacies are excellent, everywhere, and more restricted than you may be used to. Prescribing and dispensing are legally separated, so a doctor writes and a pharmacy fills, and a great many medicines sold freely elsewhere are prescription-only here.

The practical consequence: for anything beyond a headache you see a doctor first, and that is quick and cheap enough not to resent.

How a prescription works

Your doctor hands you a printed prescription. Take it to any pharmacy, usually one of several immediately outside the clinic.

The pharmacist dispenses, often repackaging your course into individual dose sachets marked by day and time, which is a genuinely good system. Bring your residence card so the insured price applies; prescriptions are partly covered and the difference is significant.

Prescriptions have a short validity, so fill it the same day rather than at the weekend. Ask the pharmacist what each medicine is for and about alcohol or driving; they are knowledgeable, used to questions, and often the best explanation you will get all day.

What you can buy without a prescription

Less than you might expect, and in two places.

At a pharmacy, a pharmacist can sell a reasonable range directly - basic painkillers, cold and flu remedies, antihistamines, digestive medicines, antiseptics, dressings, rehydration salts. Describe your symptoms and they will recommend something.

At a convenience store, a short legally defined list of household basics is available when pharmacies are shut: some painkillers, cold medicine, digestive remedies and patches. That is the entire range, so it covers a night-time fever and nothing more.

Antibiotics require a prescription, always. So do most things for a chronic condition. Buying antibiotics over a counter, as is possible in some countries, is not an option here.

The pharmacist as a first stop

Underused by foreign residents and genuinely valuable. Korean pharmacists are highly trained, and for a minor complaint - a cold starting, mild indigestion, a small wound, hay fever, a blister - walking into a pharmacy and describing the problem is faster and cheaper than a clinic appointment.

They will either sell you something suitable or tell you to see a doctor, and that second answer is worth having too. Many will speak some English, particularly near universities and in areas with a lot of foreign residents.

What to say is simple: where it hurts, how long, and anything you already take. Bring the list of your regular medication so they can check for interactions.

What it costs

Dispensing has two parts: the medicine itself and a dispensing fee, both partly covered when you present a prescription with your residence card. A typical insured course of medication is inexpensive.

Buying without a prescription means paying in full, which is still modest for everyday items. Convenience store prices are higher than a pharmacy for the same thing, which is the premium for being open at two in the morning.

When everything is closed

The gap most people meet in their first year. Pharmacies keep clinic hours: a lunch break, a half day on Saturday, closed Sunday, and shut over the two big holidays.

When	What is open
Weekday evening	Pharmacies near large hospitals, some until late
Late night	Designated public late-night pharmacies, in larger cities
Sunday and holidays	Hospital pharmacies, and the convenience store list
Any time	Emergency room, if it is genuinely urgent

Call the emergency medical information line to find what is open near you, or use a pharmacy-finder app. Medical emergencies covers the numbers, and note that going to an emergency room for a prescription refill attracts a surcharge you will pay in full.

Bringing medication into Korea

Bring a supply of anything you depend on, and bring the paperwork with it.

• A copy of the prescription or a doctor's letter, ideally in English, naming the medicine and the condition.
• Generic names, not brand names. Korean brands differ and a pharmacist cannot match a name they have never seen.
• Original packaging, not a loose bag of pills.
• Check before you fly whether your medication is restricted here. Some common treatments, particularly stimulants for attention disorders and certain strong painkillers and sedatives, are tightly controlled in Korea and may require advance permission or be unavailable entirely.

That last point is the one that catches people, and it catches them at the border. If your medication matters, verify it rather than assuming.

Continuing a prescription here

Take your documentation to a clinic in the relevant specialty and ask them to take over the prescription. An equivalent is usually available even when the exact brand is not.

For a long-term condition, do this in your first weeks rather than when you run out, because the first appointment may involve repeating tests before a Korean doctor will prescribe. Korean hospitals and clinics covers choosing the right specialist, and health insurance enrolment covers why the insured price matters.

Where this goes wrong

• Expecting to buy antibiotics over the counter. You cannot.
• Arriving at a pharmacy without your residence card and paying the uninsured price.
• Letting a prescription expire over a weekend.
• Carrying loose pills with no prescription or letter.
• Assuming your usual medication is legal here. Some common ones are controlled.
• Running out before registering with a local clinic.

Where to go next

Korean hospitals and clinics covers getting the prescription, and what medical treatment costs covers what you pay.