The process to import a dog to South Korea was the most frustrating process of all the imports we’ve done. And this was my 18th country! This was mainly because it was almost impossible to get in touch with the relevant authority to answer any questions.
The Animal & Plant Quarantine Authority (APQA) are responsible for pet imports and exports for South Korea. Whilst they have a lot of information on their website with the rules, the contacts were all phone numbers. When we tried to call we couldn’t get through. I must have looked at this page about 100 times before I finally saw a tiny e-mail address at the very bottom of the page, no idea how we missed that! For reference the e-mail address is jangyl@korea.kr. However, as we found out when we had questions about departure, they only deal with quarantine for arrivals.
I much prefer to have any questions answered in writing just in case there are any issues on arrival. There are different processes and requirements whether you are coming from a rabies free country or not. As we were coming from Japan which is rabies free, this post only focuses on the process for coming from a rabies free country.
Requirements from a Rabies Free Country
If you are coming from a rabies free country (or the pet is under 90days) it’s very simple to enter Korea. The only thing you need is a health certificate from the government agency of the exporting country which has the animal’s microchip number on and date of birth. No need for any vaccinations or titer test at all.
As we were coming from Japan, as part of the export process, you get an export certificate. This includes the microchip number and date of birth (as well as all details of your vaccines and titer test). So this was all that we needed to enter Korea. We still took our vaccine book and titer test as we needed this to come back to Japan anyway.
Arrival In Korea
When we landed at Incheon airport, we simply followed the goods to declare sign which led you to the animal quarantine area.
There was conflicting information online that said that the quarantine section was only open until 6pm. However, this is only for export. The quarantine section for arrivals is open 24 hours a day. So no need to worry if your flight lands late (we ended up changing our flight to an earlier one just to be on the safe side, before we got clarification by email).
There is also no need to book an inspection in advance. We just turned up and they helped us straight away. The lady only took the export certificate from Japan (the original) and filled out a simple form that we signed. We didn’t pay any fee and we didn’t get any documentation to confirm entry into Korea. Once she was happy she just said OK all done and off we went!
If you are coming from a none rabies free country you will need a rabies vaccine and a titer test which you will need to show on arrival. I assume they will do a bit more rigorous checking of paperwork in this instance. But from Japan it was super easy. No need to go to a vet before arriving or anything. Just the standard export inspection when leaving Japan.
If you arrive without the correct documentation your dog may be subject to quarantine which I’ve heard is not so pleasant. So please ensure you have everything in place before arrival.
Any questions please let me know in the comments below, or if you would like to share your experience of doing an import of a dog to South Korea.
Woof Woof, Wylie x
Don’t forget to check out my Amazon store (affiliate link) which has all the details all of my recommended products I use then travelling. You can check it out here. If any of my travel tips help, you can also leave a small donation which would be greatly appreciated 😊
If any of my travel tips help, please feel free to leave a small donation which would be greatly appreciated 😊
