I ordered "poppers" online to a base address in Korea and the package was flagged as a "temporary narcotic" — I'm US military. What did I import?

Alkyl nitrites — the active ingredient in poppers — are designated in Korea as temporary narcotics, a category the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety uses for substances it treats as narcotics pending or in place of permanent scheduling. Ordering them to a Korean address is an import under Korean law, and the fact that they are legal where you bought them is not a defense; it is context. What you actually did, in Korean legal terms, is import a controlled substance in a small personal quantity without knowing it was controlled, and that is a case Korean police review and, in many instances, do not pursue against a first-time recipient. Under SOFA, Korea has primary jurisdiction over the offense and the command has its own process; both are already engaged.

What this is under Korean law

The Narcotics Control Act (마약류관리법, mayangnyu gwalli-beop) allows the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to designate substances as temporary narcotics (임시마약류, imsi mayangnyu) by notice, in two grades; designated substances are treated as narcotics for the purposes of the Act's prohibitions on import, sale, possession and use. Alkyl nitrites have been on the designation list for years. Import of a temporary narcotic is prohibited and punishable; the penalty depends on the grade and, for the higher grade, mirrors the Act's narcotics provisions. Possession and use are likewise covered.

The classification is not intuitive to a foreign purchaser, and Korean police know that. What the law does not offer is an ignorance defense; what it does offer is prosecutorial discretion, which is exercised on the quantity, the purpose, and the recipient's history.

Importer, in Korean terms

An import is completed when a controlled substance enters Korea at your instance; ordering to a Korean address is enough, and the package's interception at customs is the evidence. Two bottles is a personal quantity with no commercial character. Whether the police "pursue" is a decision about whether to refer a first-time, small-quantity import of a low-profile substance for prosecution — and for temporary narcotics of this kind, cases have been closed at the police stage, referred with a recommendation for a suspension of indictment, or resolved with a summary fine. That is a range, not a prediction; where you land depends on the file.

SOFA and who decides

Under the US–Korea SOFA, an off-duty offense against Korean law falls under Korea's primary jurisdiction; the US may request a waiver, and for minor offenses Korea frequently grants one. Whether this case is retained or waived, and whether Korean police refer it at all, is being decided now, on a file that currently contains a customs report and your name. The command's process runs on its own track under US regulations and is informed by whatever the Korean disposition is.

If Korean police request an interview, you are entitled to an interpreter and to counsel, and a US representative may attend as an observer. What to say: that you ordered a product legal in the United States for personal use, without knowledge of Korean designation, in a personal quantity; nothing more. Prepare that with counsel; do not give a statement through a translation app or on the liaison's suggestion.

Your situation

For SOFA personnel, the Korean immigration consequence is not the pressure point; the command is, and a Korean disposition that records "closed" or "suspension of indictment" is a different input to the command than "convicted." That is the reason to engage Korean counsel even for a small case: the Korean paper is what the US process reads. MEGA X handles the Korean side; the installation legal office handles the command side; the two should be consistent.

What to do now, and what not to do

Do not order anything further. Do not discuss the package with unit members beyond what the command formally asks. Retain Korean counsel to contact the police, learn the case's status, and put your account and the product's US retail status on file in writing. Tell the installation legal office that Korean counsel is engaged.

From a former police investigator's perspective

Temporary-narcotic import cases involving small mail orders are a triage decision for the investigator: refer, or close with a warning. What tips it toward closing is a file that shows a first-time recipient, a legal-origin product, a personal quantity, and an account given properly. What tips it toward referral is silence — a recipient the police cannot reach or who says nothing — because an unreferred file with no explanation is a file the investigator cannot justify closing. Give him the explanation.

Contact us before any Korean police contact — text consultation or +82-2-522-3959.

— MEGA X Law Firm Korea, Criminal Defense Team