Illegal imports of obesity treatment drugs surged in Korea in the first half of this year, with customs detecting 4,155 cases of Mounjaro, Wegovy and other drugs, the Korea Customs Service said Monday. The figure was nearly 3.5 times the 1,189 cases recorded for all of last year. Most cases involved international mail, and the rise was driven largely by lower overseas prices and growing demand among younger Koreans.
Novo Nordisk's obesity treatment drug Wegovy / Reuters-Yonhap
The number of illegally imported obesity treatment drugs detected surged in the first half of this year, driven largely by drugs ordered from foreign websites and shipped through international mail.
According to the Korea Customs Service (KCS) Monday, authorities detected 4,155 instances of illegal imports of Mounjaro, Wegovy and other obesity drugs between January and June, nearly 3.5 times the 1,189 cases for all of last year.
Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Eli Lilly's Mounjaro are both once-weekly injectable obesity treatments that suppress appetite. Wegovy launched in Korea in 2024, while Mounjaro followed in 2025. Illegal import cases have risen quickly since the two drugs' domestic debuts, from four cases in 2024 to 1,189 last year and more than 4,000 in the first half of this year.
