South Korean customs are notoriously fussy about the paperwork and addressing of your parcel, and if you make mistakes, your parcel may be delayed or refused clearance. During the customs clearance process, there will be duties and fees applied. However, if your parcel is worth less than 150 US dollars, or you are sending a gift worth less than 150,000 Won, you will be exempt from duties.

Your paperwork is particularly important when shipping to South Korea. You need to be precise with your descriptions of your goods – simply calling them “samples” or “replacement parts” is not acceptable. You also need to provide itemised value if your package contains multiple items – not just a total. If you fail to include a phone number or provide a fake one, this will also be a problem.

If your paperwork infringes any of these issues, your clearance may fail or be delayed, and a fine will be applied to the shipment.

Despite the harsh rules for customs paperwork, the customs rules for what you are allowed to bring into South Korea are not so stringent. For the most part, the goods that are banned are also banned for transit by ParcelHero. You can see a list of these goods on ParcelHero’s Prohibited Goods for more information.

For details on goods that South Korea specifically bans, like books that may damage public security, visit their customs site.

ParcelHero works with leading freight carriers like TNT to give you great service at a budget price, no matter the size of your parcel.

There are a whole host of tasty treats to try in Korea, but sometimes there’s nothing better than the taste of home. If you’d like to send a care package that contains food, or just a foody parcel to your penpal, ParcelHero makes it simple – as long as you keep to the rules. Make sure that your food is store bought, not perishable and in the original packaging for best results.

When shipping internationally, the address is vital – especially for a destination with rules as strict as South Korea. Therefore, it’s best to make sure you’ve got the address exactly right. You’ll need to include:

• The name of the recipient. It’s important to note that initials are not allowed
• The name of the building being delivered to
• The street address
• The area information
• The name of the city
• The name of the country

The South Korean postal code system has only been recently introduced. They are five-digit codes that directly correspond to a specific district. The first two digits correspond to the zones that those districts are in. With these included, your address should look something like this:

John Smith

10F Central Plaza Bldg

321-6 Shinjeong-Dong

Yangcheon-Gu

010NN

Seoul

KOREA

Everyone deserves a break, which is why we don’t deliver on weekends or public holidays. If you want to be sure that a parcel arrives in time for New Years day or another important date, be sure to leave enough time to get there in advance of the day itself.