Center notices

The draft amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act, published for public comment by the Ministry of Unification in January, was promulgated on Thursday 19 February 2026 and took effect the same day (Presidential Decree No. 36090). On the same day the Ministry of Unification and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety jointly issued the Public Notice on Procedures for Bringing In Food and Other Products from North Korea, and an amendment to the Public Notice on Verifying the Origin of Goods Traded between South and North Korea also took effect. If your company or organisation plans to bring in food or similar products from North Korea, the documents you must submit with an approval application have changed.

This confirms the changes we described at the public-comment stage in our January notice on the draft amendment to the inter-Korean trade rules. The public notice introduced at that stage as a notice on inspection procedures for food from North Korea was issued under the title above.

Key points

• New Article 25(1)(5) of the Enforcement Decree: when bringing in food or other products that fall under imported foods as defined in Article 2(1) of the Special Act on Imported Food Safety Control, the documents needed to apply for registration of the overseas manufacturing establishment under Article 5(1) of that Act must be submitted with the application for approval.
• New Article 25(4)(3): where goods are brought in merely by passing through a third country, approval may be granted on condition that documents proving transshipment under Article 2(14), or combined transshipment under Article 2(15), of the Customs Act are submitted.
• New Article 41(3)(10): the Special Act on Imported Food Safety Control is added to the statutes that apply correspondingly.
• New Article 44-2: matters needed for registration of overseas manufacturing establishments and on-site inspections are set out in a public notice issued jointly by the Minister of Unification and the Minister of Food and Drug Safety after consulting the heads of relevant agencies.
• The new Public Notice on Procedures for Bringing In Food and Other Products from North Korea (Ministry of Unification Notice No. 2026-2; Ministry of Food and Drug Safety Notice No. 2026-12): North Korean food manufacturing establishments are registered as overseas manufacturing establishments after consultation by a working council on food brought in from North Korea. The council is made up of officials from the Ministry of Unification, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the Korea Customs Service and the National Intelligence Service.
• On-site inspections under the same notice: where an on-site inspection under the Special Act is judged to be practically difficult, the inspection is commissioned to a body with expertise in evaluating food safety and hygiene in other countries.
• Food safety under the same notice: for food from North Korea, laboratory testing of the product is requested not only on first entry but also for the decision on approval to bring it in.
• The amended Public Notice on Verifying the Origin of Goods Traded between South and North Korea (Ministry of Unification Notice No. 2026-1) also took effect on 19 February 2026. Please check the original text for details.

What to prepare

• If you are planning to bring in food, first check whether your counterpart can provide the documents needed for registration of the overseas manufacturing establishment and, where goods pass through a third country, a transshipment or combined transshipment certificate.
• As a request for laboratory testing is part of the approval decision, take this step into account when planning your transaction schedule.
• The Enforcement Rule of the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act, which sets out the statutory forms, was not amended this time (last amended 31 October 2025). The application for approval for carrying goods out/in in our Resources section is the current form; what has changed is the set of documents submitted with it.
• The full text of the public notices is attached to the Ministry of Unification's notice and is also available from the National Law Information Center (law.go.kr).

Consultation

If you would like to review your document set before applying for approval, please request a consultation. Applications for approval are filed through the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation System (tongtong.go.kr).

Source: Ministry of Unification, notice on the enactment of the Public Notice on Procedures for Bringing In Food and Other Products from North Korea (24 February 2026) https://www.unikorea.go.kr/web/unikorea/bbs/bbs_0000000000000001/58946 · National Law Information Center, Enforcement Decree of the Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act (Presidential Decree No. 36090, 19 February 2026) https://www.law.go.kr/lsInfoP.do?lsiSeq=283463