🇰🇷 South Korea
8 reports of cannabis enforcement.
Totals add up only what the reports state; most operations are never reported in numbers.
Layers
- Urgent
- At risk
- Secure
- Held in a genebank
- No data yet
- No seed lot recorded
From Landrace.wiki, CC BY-SA 4.0. Places offset by about 500 m.
- Seizure · 2
- Arrest · 4
- Prosecution · 1
- Sentence · 1
Latest reports
Prosecutors seek 20 years for a yakuza who smuggled 646 kg of cannabis
A 53-year-old Japanese-Korean yakuza member went on trial at Suwon for shipping about 636 kg of cannabis from Thailand to Incheon port in March 2026 as part of a 646 kg smuggling operation; prosecutors called it the largest cannabis import for domestic sale and sought 20 years. The case began with intelligence from the National Intelligence Service and was handled by the joint drug headquarters.
South Korea's coast guard arrests 249 poppy and cannabis growers
A four-month sweep from April to July 2026 caught 236 poppy growers and 13 cannabis growers, seizing 29,438 poppy plants, 37 cannabis plants and 5.5 kg of cannabis. The coast guard said cultivation was concentrated in rural and island areas and promised tighter sea-border checks.
Cousins grew cannabis in rented Yongin villas and sold it online
Two cousins grew cannabis under LEDs and climate gear in two rented Yongin homes from last October to July, selling marijuana, jelly and liquid online for up to 1 million won a time. Police acting on a resident's tip arrested them on 6 August, seizing 35 plants, 2.3 kg and cryptocurrency.
Arrested 2Cannabis 2.3 kgSouth Korea's cannabis arrests fall by a quarter as smuggling hits a record
The 2025 drug crime white paper recorded 2,459 cannabis offenders, down 25.9% from 3,317 in 2024 and 4,085 in 2023; use fell to 1,016 while smuggling rose to 335. Overall drug offenders rose 1.7% to 23,403, and smuggling offenders hit a record 1,772. Seizures included 128.6 kg of herbal cannabis and 5.6 kg of resin.
South Korea blocks 22 imported 'hemp' foods after finding drugs
The food and drug ministry tested 32 overseas-purchase products marketed with cannabis, hemp or kanna and found controlled substances in 22 of them, including cannabis compounds and the temporary narcotic mesembrine. It asked customs to hold the products and platforms to block their sale, and warned that importing or eating them is punishable.
South Korea indicts 12 people for growing cannabis at home
The joint drug headquarters indicted 12 people, six of them detained, after a four-month sweep of home and factory grows; those charged included a hip-hop group member, an English teacher and a composer. Investigators seized about 3 kg of cannabis, 39 plants and cannabis jelly, and said ordinary residents were treating home growing as an entry drug.
South Korea launches a joint drug investigation headquarters
The government set up a joint drug-crime investigation headquarters bringing prosecutors, police, customs and the intelligence service together, after smuggling and online sales rose. In its first 100 days it booked 124 people and detained 56, including a soldier who smuggled 10.2 kg of cannabis from Thailand and a farmer who grew cannabis under a state-funded smart farm.
South Korea's 2023 drug arrests pass 20,000 for the first time
The prosecution service's yearly report recorded 27,611 people caught for drug offences in 2023, half as many again as the 18,395 of 2022. Teenagers numbered 1,477, three times the year before, and people in their twenties 8,368. The report as published did not break the figures down by drug.
This country's reports as data: /api/country/kr.json