To check whether a medicine needs a prescription in Korea, find its exact Korean product record and read the MFDS field marked 전문/일반. Match the name, active ingredient, strength and dosage form first. A familiar brand name or the same symptom does not establish that you found the same product.
This guide helps you save a verifiable record to discuss with a pharmacist. For visiting a pharmacy, prescriptions, night pharmacies and payment, use our general guide to using a pharmacy in Korea.
Checked October 21, 2026 (KST): MFDS search controls, a completed 지르텍 search and its detail page, and the two exact product records below. This is a classification lookup guide, not a dose, treatment or substitution recommendation.
Updated October 26, 2026 (KST) — illustration caution and pharmacy-search alternative: This illustration is a general pharmacy overview, not a legal product-classification list. Its broad labels, including allergy medicines, eye drops, vitamins/supplements and daily-care items, do not establish a particular product’s type or prescription status. Use the exact MFDS record below and confirm the product type and classification with a pharmacist. The illustration’s QR destination has not been verified. To find a pharmacy, open the Holiday Keeper Pharmacy service directly and telephone the pharmacy to confirm its current hours before visiting. This update expands the caution and adds a direct alternative; the original illustration and QR are unchanged.
1. Prepare the product details
Keep the package or a clear photograph. Useful details include:
- Full product name, including Korean lettering if available
- Active ingredient or ingredients
- Printed strength and its basis, such as an amount per tablet
- Dosage form: tablet, liquid, eye drops or another exact form
- Company name and any product identifier on the package
Also keep your allergies and other medicines ready for the pharmacist. Those affect personal suitability, even after you establish the product’s classification.
2. Search the official MFDS record
- Open MFDS 의약품안전나라. In the homepage box labeled 의약품검색어입력, enter the Korean product name and press Enter. In the October 21 check, 지르텍 led to one product result.
- The product-search page provides 제품명 (product name), 제품영문명 (English product name), ingredient fields 성분명1·2·3 and 성분영문명, and 품목기준코드 (item code). Use the field corresponding to information you actually have.
- Keep 전문/일반 at 전체 (all) when discovering the classification. Otherwise, a filter could hide the category you are trying to identify. The separate 취소/취하 status filter includes 정상, 취하 and 유효기간 만료.
- Open the full matching product name. In the checked flow, its detailed record opened in another tab. Compare the whole record rather than accepting a similar-looking search result.
3. Read classification and identity separately
First check 품목구분 (product type) in the search results. The search includes medicines and quasi-drugs (의약외품); this guide’s prescription/nonprescription distinction applies to medicine records. Ask a pharmacist if the type is unclear.
In the detail page’s 기본정보, find 전문/일반:
- 일반의약품: general/nonprescription medicine classification
- 전문의약품: prescription medicine classification
Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, Article 50 permits general medicines to be sold without a prescription and ordinarily requires prescription-based dispensing for prescription medicines. This legal category does not decide whether a product is appropriate for you.
Check 품목기준코드, ingredients, strength and form against your package. 업체명 is the displayed company; 위탁제조업체 is a separate contract-manufacturer field. Do not treat those labels as interchangeable.
4. Check the active ingredient, not the first milligram number
Open 원료약품 및 분량 (ingredients and quantities). For the exact 지르텍 record below, the heading describes one tablet weighing 118.95 mg, while the ingredient row lists cetirizine hydrochloride 10 mg. The first number is the whole tablet’s mass; it is not the active-ingredient strength.
Read the ingredient row and its stated basis together. A composition amount is not an instruction telling you how much to take. Ask the pharmacist if the package and record do not clearly match.
5. Two exact records, two classifications
These examples were checked on October 21, 2026. They illustrate record reading, not recommended products.
| Exact Korean record | Ingredient and stated strength | MFDS classification |
|---|---|---|
| 지르텍정(세티리진염산염) Item code 200610765; film-coated tablet | Cetirizine hydrochloride, 10 mg per tablet | 일반의약품 |
| 씨잘정5밀리그램(레보세티리진염산염) Item code 200604084; film-coated tablet | Levocetirizine hydrochloride, 5.00 mg per tablet | 전문의약품 |
They contain different active ingredients. Their classifications do not make them interchangeable. Do not extend either result to every allergy medicine, every formulation under a brand, or your own treatment.
6. Check status and handle an uncertain match
The result table’s 취소/취하 status is separate from prescription classification. A record remaining searchable does not prove current sale or local pharmacy stock. The checked 지르텍 result showed 정상; do not assume that status for a different record.
If you cannot find an exact match, recheck spelling and identifiers against the package. A failed search alone does not establish that a product is OTC, prohibited or unavailable. Show the package and any record you found to a licensed pharmacist; do not guess a substitute from a similar name.
7. Save the result and confirm the next step
Save the official URL, item code, full name, ingredient, strength, form and classification. Ask: “Does this record match my medicine, and does the Korean product require a prescription?” If a prescription is needed, ask about the appropriate medical consultation route.
The result does not establish availability, individual safety, permission to bring medicine across the border, or whether an overseas prescription can be dispensed locally. Those are separate questions. The general pharmacy guide covers practical pharmacy and clinic next steps.
Source and date scope: The completed interactive search described above was checked October 21, 2026. The MFDS search-page labels, both exact product records’ classifications and composition values, and the linked Article 50 were rechecked October 22, 2026 (KST). The linked consolidated law is effective October 8, 2026. These are verification and law-version dates, not the dates these products first acquired their classifications. Product approval dates, precaution updates and cache timestamps do not establish a classification-change date.
Updated October 22, 2026 (KST): Clarified medicine versus quasi-drug records and the limits of the general illustration. The original image remains unchanged; this update does not certify its complete contents or QR destination.
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