I brought my ADHD medication into Korea and now I'm under investigation for "psychotropic drug import" — I'm a D-2 student with a valid US prescription. How is this a crime?

Your medication is a controlled psychotropic substance in Korea, and Korean law does not recognize a foreign prescription as authority to bring it in — that is the gap you fell into. A traveler may carry a limited personal supply with documentation, and for larger amounts or for mail, there is a permit system through the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety that most students never hear of. The mailed package is the problem; the police are asking about the carried supply because it is the same substance. This is a recognized category of case with recognized outcomes for a patient with a genuine diagnosis and a documented history, and prison is not among the usual ones. But it is a criminal investigation, and it needs to be handled as one, including the university side.

What this is under Korean law

Methylphenidate and amphetamine-type ADHD medications are psychotropic substances (향정신성의약품, hyangjeongsinseong uiyakpum) under the Narcotics Control Act (마약류관리법, mayangnyu gwalli-beop). Importing a psychotropic substance without permission is an offense under the Act, with a penalty that, on paper, runs to years of imprisonment; the same Act regulates possession, and possession of a controlled medicine without a Korean prescription is technically within it.

The Act and its regulations provide a route: a traveler may bring in a personal supply, within quantity limits, with a doctor's letter and prescription; beyond that, and for any shipment by mail, an import permit from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (식약처, sigyakcheo) is required in advance. Mailing controlled medicine without that permit is an unpermitted import regardless of the prescription behind it, and customs treat it as such.

How the process works in Korea

The narcotics unit will interview you, review your prescription history, the two shipments, and your medical records if you provide them, and refer the case to the prosecutor (송치, songchi) or close it. For a patient with a long documented diagnosis, a foreign prescription, medication in original packaging, quantities consistent with personal use, and no distribution, prosecutors have commonly resolved these cases with a suspension of indictment (기소유예, giso yuye) or a non-referral, sometimes with an educational condition. Cases that end badly are those where quantities exceeded personal use, medication was shared or sold, or the person minimized in the interview and was contradicted by the records. Those are ranges, not predictions.

Your situation as a foreign national

A departure suspension (출국정지, chulguk jeongji) is possible during any drug investigation; it is less commonly imposed in prescription cases with a stable student address, but confirm before any travel. You are entitled to an interpreter at the interview.

On your visa and enrollment: an investigation does not end a D-2. A conviction, including a suspended sentence, is a fact the Immigration Office weighs, and drug offenses appear in the deportation-review grounds; a suspension of indictment is not a conviction. Universities have their own rules; being informed of "a police matter" is not the same as discipline, and the international office's duty to know is not a duty to expel. Those decisions are the university's and the Immigration Office's, not the police's, and we do not predict them. MEGA X handles the criminal case; where it affects your status, we coordinate with an immigration specialist as part of your defense.

On the university: respond that a matter concerning your prescription medication is under review, that you are represented, and that you will provide the outcome. Do not give the international office a narrative; give it a status.

Continuing your medication

Do not import any more, and do not take medication that came in the seized package. See a Korean psychiatrist now with your US records; ADHD is treated in Korea and the same or equivalent medication is prescribed here under Korean control. A Korean prescription solves the lawful-supply problem going forward and is also evidence — a psychiatrist's confirmation of your diagnosis is the document that most helps your case.

What to do now, and what not to do

Do not attend the interview alone. Do gather: your full prescription history from the US pharmacy, your prescribing doctor's letter stating diagnosis, dosage and duration, the pharmacy labels from both supplies, and the customs notice. Prepare your account with your lawyer before the interview, and give it precisely — quantities, dates, who mailed what. Do not describe the mailing as "no big deal"; describe it as a mistake made from a patient's fear of running out, which is what it was.

From a former police investigator's perspective

Narcotics investigators handling prescription cases are looking for one thing: is this a patient or a supplier. Dosage consistent with the prescription, packaging intact, a psychiatric history that predates Korea, and a Korean doctor now prescribing the same drug answers the question. What turns a patient into a suspect is a discrepancy — pills missing, quantities above the prescribed rate, a friend's name in a message asking for "a few." Make sure your records have no discrepancy before the police look for one.

Two weeks to the summons is enough time to see a psychiatrist and prepare. Contact us first — text consultation or +82-2-522-3959.

— MEGA X Law Firm Korea, Criminal Defense Team