Korean customs seized my CBD oil at the airport and say it's a "narcotic" — it's a wellness product I bought at a pharmacy back home. Am I in trouble?

CBD oil is, in Korea, a cannabis product: the law defines cannabis to include products made from the plant, and it does not carve out CBD or "THC-free" labels. Bringing it in without a permit is, on paper, an import of cannabis. That is the officer's "narcotic." What actually follows depends on the test: laboratories test seized CBD products for THC content, because many "THC-free" retail oils contain trace THC, and the result decides whether this is closed as a customs matter or referred as a drug case. You can do something before they contact you, and it is worth doing.

What this is under Korean law

The Narcotics Control Act (마약류관리법, mayangnyu gwalli-beop) defines cannabis (대마, daema) as the plant, its resin and products manufactured from them, excluding only seeds, roots and mature stalks and products made from those. CBD extracted from the plant's flowers or leaves is within the definition regardless of THC content; Korea has no general CBD legalization, and CBD medicines are available only for specific conditions through the Korea Orphan and Essential Drug Center with a doctor's prescription and an import permit. Retail CBD wellness oil has no lawful route into Korea in a traveler's bag.

Import of cannabis is an offense under Article 59, with a range beginning at one year's imprisonment — which sounds absurd for two bottles of pharmacy oil, and which is why the reality of these cases is different from the statute.

The test, and what "positive" means

Customs sends seized products to the Korea Customs Service laboratory or the National Forensic Service for analysis. The question is THC content. A product that tests as CBD with no detectable THC has been, in practice, treated at the customs level: seizure and destruction, sometimes an administrative notice, without referral to the police — because the enforcement interest in a THC-free product is low and prosecuting a tourist for pharmacy oil is not something prosecutors pursue. A product that contains THC above trace levels is a different result: it becomes cannabis in the ordinary sense and is referred to the police as an import case, at which point the traveler's knowledge and intent become the issue.

"THC-free" on a British label is not a guarantee; laboratories regularly find THC in retail CBD oils at levels the seller did not disclose. Your bottles' actual content is now the whole case.

Criminal or customs

Until the result is in, it is a customs matter with a criminal possibility. If referred, it is a police investigation into import of cannabis by a foreign visitor, in which the facts — pharmacy purchase, labelling, open packing, personal quantity, no knowledge of THC content — are the defense to intent. Import requires intent to import cannabis; a traveler who believed she was carrying a lawful wellness product has an argument that she lacked it, and prosecutors have declined to charge in cases of that kind. That is not a guarantee, and it is not a reason to do nothing.

What to do before they contact you

Obtain, now, the pharmacy receipt and the product's documentation — the manufacturer's certificate of analysis showing THC content, which reputable UK brands publish, and any lab report. Photograph the packaging you still have. Write down, for your lawyer, when and why you bought it and how it was packed. If the police call, you will have a file that says "lawful purchase, documented THC-free, openly carried"; without it, you will have your word. Counsel can also contact customs to learn the test status and, if it is referred, to put that file before the police at the first contact rather than the second.

Your situation as a foreign visitor

You were admitted; there is no departure suspension unless and until a police case exists, and for a customs-level disposition there will not be one. If a case is opened before your departure, confirm the departure question through counsel. A conviction for import would be a serious entry-ban matter; a customs seizure is not. MEGA X handles the criminal side if it arises.

What to do now, and what not to do

Do not buy or accept any other cannabis product in Korea. Do not post about the seizure. Do get the documentation this week. Enjoy the trip, but with the receipt in your inbox.

From a former police investigator's perspective

Referred CBD cases land on an investigator's desk with a lab number and a question: did this person know. A tourist with a pharmacy receipt and a manufacturer's analysis has answered it before the interview; a tourist who says "I didn't know it was illegal" — which is not a defense — and nothing else has not. Ignorance of Korean law is not the argument; documented belief about the product is.

If customs or the police contact you, call us before you respond — text consultation or +82-2-522-3959.

— MEGA X Law Firm Korea, Criminal Defense Team