Reports indicate that South Koreans are traveling to Japan to obtain the weight loss drug Mounjaro at a lower cost.
According to Japanese broadcaster TV Asahi, there have been multiple instances of South Koreans receiving prescriptions for Mounjaro at various medical facilities in Japan. Posts on South Korean social media have been sharing information about Japanese hospitals that prescribe Mounjaro at relatively low prices, referring to them as 'holy sites.'
A woman in her 30s living in Seoul told TV Asahi, "I found out that there was a hospital in a rural city in Japan that prescribes Mounjaro, and it turned out to be the cheapest in the country."
Some reports suggest that even when factoring in the cost of airfare, it is still cheaper than purchasing the drug domestically. A man in his 30s from Seoul purchased a four-month supply of Mounjaro for approximately 850,000 won while in Fukuoka last August. He told Sankei Shimbun, "Even at the lowest price in Seoul, it would cost over 1.7 million won. Considering the round-trip airfare of about 350,000 won, I was able to save a significant amount."
Mounjaro and Wegovy are classified as harmful medications by the Minister of Food and Drug Safety, meaning that without a recommendation letter confirming exemption from import requirements, their entry into South Korea is prohibited regardless of quantity. This indicates that the usual import limits for personal use medications do not apply.
According to the Korea Customs Service, there were 4,155 cases of illegal imports of weight loss medications like Mounjaro and Wegovy detected from January to June this year, nearly 3.5 times the 1,189 cases recorded for the entire previous year. Of these, 3,489 cases involved international mail, while 656 were from travelers' personal belongings. However, this figure does not solely account for Mounjaro imported from Japan.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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