South Korea: FDA food import refusals, 2020–2025
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South Korea was the origin of 470 of 22,156 US food import refusals in 2020–2025 (2.1%), ranking 8th of 146 origins. 63% were hazard findings and 37% paperwork alone. 31% concerned vegetables and vegetable products; the most-cited safety charge was Listeria monocytogenes, and the most-cited paperwork charge ingredients not listed.
Every US food import refusal naming South Korea as origin, 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2025. A refusal is one import entry, however many product lines it carried. Download every table (CSV).
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By year
| Year | Refusals | Share of US total | Rank among origins |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 98 | 3.6% | 5 |
| 2021 | 80 | 2.8% | 9 |
| 2022 | 51 | 1.5% | 12 |
| 2023 | 101 | 2.9% | 6 |
| 2024 | 60 | 1.5% | 11 |
| 2025 | 80 | 1.4% | 13 |
| 2020–2025 | 470 | 2.1% | 8 |
Year links open that year's refusals, entry by entry.
Tables below show each year 2020–2025; cells are shaded against their row's own peak. Change compares 2025 with 2020 and is shown only where 2020 had at least 10 refusals ("new" where it had none).
Hazard or paperwork
A refusal is a hazard finding when any of its charges is a safety one — filth, pathogens, residues, contaminants, unsafe additives — and paperwork when every charge is labelling, registration or a missing filing. One citing only charge codes FDA has not published is unclassified.
| Year | Hazard findings | Paperwork only | Unclassified | Hazard share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 66 | 32 | 0 | 67.3% |
| 2021 | 51 | 29 | 0 | 63.7% |
| 2022 | 36 | 15 | 0 | 70.6% |
| 2023 | 69 | 32 | 0 | 68.3% |
| 2024 | 30 | 30 | 0 | 50.0% |
| 2025 | 46 | 34 | 0 | 57.5% |
| 2020–2025 | 298 | 172 | 0 | 63.4% |
By industry
| FDA industry | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2020–2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vegetables and Vegetable Products rates → Leafy · Pepper · Vegetables-other |
18 | 26 | 25 | 18 | 28 | 31 | 146 (31.1%) | +72% |
| Fishery/Seafood Products rates → Fish-other · Shrimp-prawn · Squid-octopus |
16 | 9 | 6 | 16 | 6 | 8 | 61 (13.0%) | −50% |
| Macaroni and Noodle Products | 24 | 21 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 49 (10.4%) | −100% |
| Snack Food Items (Flour, Meal, or Vegetable Base) | 0 | 0 | 4 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 44 (9.4%) | — |
| Vitamins, Minerals, Proteins, and Unconventional Dietary Specialties for Humans rates → Herbals-botanicals · Supplements |
6 | 9 | 4 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 43 (9.1%) | — |
| Soft Drinks and Waters | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 27 (5.7%) | — |
| Fruit and Fruit Products | 6 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 20 (4.3%) | — |
| Candy Without Chocolate, Candy Specialties, and Chewing Gum | 2 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 19 (4.0%) | — |
| Bakery Products, Doughs, Bakery Mixes, and Icings rates → Bakery |
10 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 15 (3.2%) | −80% |
| Dietary Conventional Foods and Meal Replacements rates → | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 14 (3.0%) | — |
| Multiple Food Dinners, Gravies, Sauces, and Specialties (Total Diet) rates → Sauces-prepared |
3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 (1.5%) | — |
| Coffee and Tea | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 (1.3%) | — |
| Soups rates → | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 (0.9%) | — |
| Beverage Bases | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 (0.6%) | — |
| Whole Grains, Milled Grain Products, and Starch | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 (0.6%) | — |
| Cereal Preparations, Breakfast Foods | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 (0.4%) | — |
| Baby (Infant and Junior) Food Products | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 (0.2%) | new |
| Chocolate and Cocoa Products | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0.2%) | — |
| Dressings and Condiments | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0.2%) | — |
| Filled Milk and Imitation Milk Products | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 (0.2%) | new |
| Ice Cream and Related Products | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (0.2%) | — |
| Spices, Flavors, and Salts | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 (0.2%) | — |
| Vegetable Oils (Includes Olive Oil) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 (0.2%) | new |
By charge group
A refusal citing charges in two groups counts once in each, so rows can add up to more than the total.
| Charge group | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2020–2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labelling (paperwork) | 50 | 41 | 15 | 30 | 17 | 24 | 177 (37.7%) | −52% |
| Process and registration (paperwork) | 12 | 10 | 7 | 18 | 31 | 23 | 101 (21.5%) | +92% |
| Listeria monocytogenes (hazard) | 10 | 21 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 21 | 83 (17.7%) | +110% |
| Contaminants (hazard) | 6 | 5 | 13 | 41 | 2 | 8 | 75 (16.0%) | — |
| Undeclared allergens (hazard) | 29 | 13 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 62 (13.2%) | −79% |
| Filth and insanitary conditions (hazard) | 12 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 24 | 50 (10.6%) | +100% |
| Pesticide residues (hazard) | 9 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 28 (6.0%) | — |
| Unsafe additives (hazard) | 5 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 25 (5.3%) | — |
| Salmonella (hazard) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 (1.7%) | — |
Most-cited charges
FDA's own charge codes, with a plain-English label. Each is counted once per refusal.
Safety charges
| Charge | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2020–2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Listeria monocytogenes LISTERIA |
10 | 21 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 21 | 83 | +110% |
poisonous or deleterious substance POISONOUS |
2 | 5 | 12 | 40 | 1 | 7 | 67 | — |
undeclared allergen ALLERGEN |
28 | 13 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 6 | 61 | −79% |
insanitary plant MFR INSAN |
9 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 20 | 35 | — |
pesticide residue PESTICIDE |
9 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 28 | — |
unsafe color additive UNSAFE COL |
2 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 19 | — |
insanitary handling MFR INJ |
7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 15 | — |
insanitary conditions INSANITARY |
3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 9 | — |
Salmonella SALMONELLA |
1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | — |
filth FILTHY |
1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | — |
Paperwork charges
| Charge | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2020–2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ingredients not listed LIST INGRE |
32 | 20 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 11 | 82 | −66% |
nutrition labeling NUTRIT LBL |
22 | 21 | 6 | 12 | 5 | 16 | 82 | −27% |
not in English NO ENGLISH |
16 | 24 | 7 | 14 | 6 | 11 | 78 | −31% |
false or misleading label FALSE |
15 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 38 | −87% |
label not conspicuous INCONSPICU |
9 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 34 | — |
no process filing NO PROCESS |
5 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 13 | 32 | — |
FSVP violation FSVP VIO |
0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 22 | 0 | 27 | — |
unapproved new drug UNAPPROVED |
3 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 20 | — |
no net quantity LACKS N/C |
1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 18 | — |
color not declared COLOR LBLG |
3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 14 | — |
By month
Pooled across 2020–2025. Each row is shaded against its own peak, so its season shows whatever its size. Hazard findings peak in January; Paperwork only peak in January.
Hazard or paperwork
| Kind | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hazard findings | 66 | 17 | 21 | 29 | 12 | 16 | 26 | 29 | 22 | 17 | 22 | 21 | January |
| Paperwork only | 23 | 11 | 13 | 7 | 18 | 22 | 10 | 15 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 9 | January |
By charge group
| Charge group | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labelling | 28 | 15 | 14 | 17 | 9 | 10 | 6 | 13 | 22 | 10 | 22 | 11 | January |
| Process and registration | 10 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 20 | 7 | 9 | 3 | 9 | 6 | 4 | June |
| Listeria monocytogenes | 6 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 14 | 14 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 7 | July |
| Contaminants | 40 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 6 | January |
| Undeclared allergens | 14 | 8 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 3 | January |
Import divisions
The FDA division that handled the entry. DSWI and DNBI are the Mexican and Canadian land borders, so this says as much about the route as about the product.
| Division | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2020–2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DWCI — West Coast | 53 | 49 | 34 | 64 | 43 | 31 | 274 | −42% |
| DNEI — Northeast | 36 | 12 | 3 | 14 | 9 | 27 | 101 | −25% |
| DSEI — Southeast | 5 | 8 | 7 | 16 | 5 | 15 | 56 | — |
| DNBI — North Border, the Canadian land border | 3 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 29 | — |
| DSWI — Southwest, the Mexican land border | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 10 | — |
Method
- Source: FDA Import Refusal Report (U.S. Food and Drug Administration); every food import refusal dated 2020–2025.
- Counts are import entries, not product lines. A refusal naming several origins counts once for each, so origin shares can add up to more than 100%. FDA records this origin as South Korea and Korea, Republic of; both are counted here.
- Charge groups are this site's grouping of FDA's charge codes; a code belongs to the first group that claims it, the same rule as the hazard pages.
- A charge is what FDA cited to refuse the entry, often on appearance or documents rather than a laboratory result. Counts depend on how often each product is examined, so they are not a rate of unsafe food.
- Licence: CC-BY-4.0. Cite as "South Korea: FDA food import refusals, 2020–2025", fruit-risk.com, 2026-09-20, https://fdair.fruit-risk.com/reports/south-korea.html.
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