Korea Convenience Store Medicine: All 13 OTC Drugs You Can Buy at Night (2026)

It’s 11 p.m. and your forehead is suddenly on fire. Every pharmacy in the neighborhood is dark. If you’ve traveled in Korea long enough, you’ve been there — standing on a quiet street, Googling “24-hour pharmacy Seoul” and praying something comes up.

Here’s what I’ve learned after years in this city: the answer is usually across the street, inside the convenience store. But the store only has 13 cards to play. Know what those 13 cards are before you need them, and you’ll never waste a late night hunting for medicine that doesn’t exist.

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Wait — you can actually buy medicine at a Korean convenience store?

You can. Since November 2012, Korea has had a system that lets certain convenience stores sell 안전상비의약품 (safe OTC medicines) — a short list of over-the-counter drugs available without a pharmacist on site. Any store that operates 24/7 and registers with the local government as a “safe OTC medicine retailer” can stock them.

This wasn’t created because Korea has a shortage of pharmacies. Actually, it’s kind of the opposite.

The real problem isn’t the number — it’s the clock. A typical Korean pharmacy runs 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays, closes by Saturday afternoon, and is almost never open on Sundays or public holidays. The exact hours when travelers get sick — late at night, early morning, Sundays — are the exact hours pharmacies are closed. The 13-item convenience store list was designed to fill that gap.

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So what exactly can I buy?

The 13 items designated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare are listed below. That’s the whole list. Don’t waste time scanning shelves for anything beyond these.

💊 Complete list of 13 designated safe OTC medicines (Ministry of Health and Welfare notice)

#	Category	Product Name	Manufacturer	Active Ingredient	On Shelves?
1	Fever/Pain	Tylenol 500mg	Janssen Korea	Acetaminophen 500mg	⭕
2	Fever/Pain	Tylenol 160mg	Janssen Korea	Acetaminophen 160mg	❌ Discontinued 2022
3	Fever/Pain	Children’s Tylenol 80mg	Janssen Korea	Acetaminophen 80mg	❌ Discontinued 2022
4	Fever/Pain	Children’s Tylenol Suspension	Janssen Korea	Acetaminophen (syrup)	⭕
5	Fever/Pain	Children’s Brufen Syrup	Samil Pharma	Ibuprofen (syrup)	⭕
6	Cold	Pancol-A Liquid	Donghwa Pharma	Acetaminophen 300mg + 5 others	⭕
7	Cold	Panpirin-T Tablets	Dong-A Pharma	Acetaminophen 300mg + 2 others	⭕
8	Digestion	Bearse Tablets	Daewoong Pharma	Digestive enzyme complex	⭕
9	Digestion	Doctor Bearse Tablets	Daewoong Pharma	Digestive enzyme complex	⭕
10	Digestion	Festal Plus Tablets	Handok	Pancreatin, simethicone, etc.	⭕
11	Digestion	Festal Gold Tablets	Handok	Pancreatin, simethicone, etc.	⭕
12	Patch	Jeil Cool Pap	Jeil Health Science	Methyl salicylate	⭕
13	Patch	Shinshin Pas Arex	Shinshin Pharma	Methyl salicylate	⭕

The list says 13, but you’ll only find 11. Janssen Korea moved its manufacturing overseas in 2022 and pulled Children’s Tylenol 80mg and Tylenol 160mg tablets from the Korean market entirely. That’s why you’ll never spot “Children’s Tylenol pills” on a convenience store shelf — they don’t exist anymore.

How much does convenience store medicine cost?

Prices follow the manufacturer’s suggested retail, though they vary slightly from store to store. Most items run in the ₩2,000–5,000 range (roughly $1.50–3.75 USD). The same medicine at a pharmacy is usually cheaper — pharmacies set their own prices, and they’re typically about ₩1,000 less per item.

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How do I match these to the brands I know from home?

Korean drug names look like alphabet soup if you don’t read Hangul, but here’s the thing: the active ingredients are universal. Flip the box over — the ingredient names are printed in both Korean and English. Use the table below. Find your home brand, trace it to the ingredient, then grab the Korean product that contains it.

🌍 Cross-reference: ingredient → your brand → Korean convenience store product

Ingredient (Korean label)	English Name	US	UK/AUS/SEA	Japan	China/Taiwan/HK	Sold at Convenience Store As
아세트아미노펜	Acetaminophen / Paracetamol	Tylenol	Panadol, Calpol (kids)	カロナール, タイレノールA	泰诺林 / 普拿疼 / 必理痛	Tylenol 500mg, Panpirin-T, Pancol-A
이부프로펜	Ibuprofen	Advil, Motrin	Nurofen	イブ (EVE), ブルフェン	芬必得 / 布洛芬	Children’s Brufen Syrup
클로르페니라민	Chlorpheniramine	Chlor-Trimeton	Piriton	ポララミン	扑尔敏	Panpirin-T, Pancol-A
구아이페네신	Guaifenesin	Mucinex, Robitussin	Benylin	ガイフェネシン	愈创甘油醚	Pancol-A
페닐레프린	Phenylephrine	Sudafed PE	Sudafed PE	ネオシネジン	苯肾上腺素	Pancol-A
시메티콘	Simethicone	Gas-X, Mylanta	Infacol	ガスコン	二甲硅油	Festal Plus, Festal Gold
판크레아틴·소화효소	Pancreatin / Digestive enzymes	Digestive enzyme	Creon (Rx)	消化酵素	胰酶	Bearse, Dr. Bearse, Festal
살리실산메틸	Methyl salicylate	Bengay	Deep Heat	サロンパス	撒隆巴斯 / 水杨酸甲酯	Jeil Cool Pap, Shinshin Pas Arex

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What can't I buy at a convenience store?

This is actually the more important list. The things travelers commonly need that are absolutely not on the convenience store shelf:

🚫 What's missing — head to a pharmacy for these

When You Need…	The Drug You Want	Convenience Store?	Where to Get It
Diarrhea / stomach bug	Anti-diarrheal (loperamide, Smecta, Jeongrowan)	❌	Pharmacy
Heartburn / acid reflux	Antacid (Gelpos, Gaviscon)	❌	Pharmacy
Allergies / hives	Antihistamine (Zyrtec, Claritin)	❌	Pharmacy
Cuts / burns	Antiseptic / antibiotic ointment (Fucidin, Madecassol)	❌	Pharmacy
Motion sickness	Motion sickness patch (Kimitie)	❌	Pharmacy
Adult ibuprofen tablets	Brufen tablets, EZ-N6	❌	Pharmacy
Red eyes / dry eyes	Eye drops / artificial tears	❌	Pharmacy
Covering a small cut	Bandages, gauze, face masks	⭕	Convenience store (these are quasi-drugs)

Two places tourists often try, thinking they might sell medicine — they don’t. Olive Young is a cosmetics and health-functional-food store. It does not stock actual pharmaceuticals. Same for Daiso. Both sell bandages, masks, and vitamin supplements, but nothing classified as a drug.

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Are there rules about buying medicine at convenience stores?

And now the single most important thing in this entire article.

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The convenience store shelf can't fix it. Now what?

If you need diarrhea medicine, or your symptoms are beyond what those 13 products can handle, you need to find an open pharmacy. Here’s the playbook, in order:

Step 1 — Public Night Pharmacy (10 p.m.–1 a.m.)

These are pharmacies that local governments subsidize to stay open late — from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. There are about 240 nationwide, with 39 in Seoul spread across 25 districts. Of those, 28 operate 365 days a year; the other 11 run on a rotating schedule.

Step 2 — Holiday Guardian Pharmacy (pharm114.or.kr)

Run by the Korean Pharmaceutical Association, this is the national pharmacy locator. Pick your province → district, and it shows every pharmacy currently open: name, address, phone number, hours. About 3,000 pharmacies nationwide are registered as year-round or extended-hour.

Step 3 — Emergency Medical Portal E-Gen (e-gen.or.kr)

Operated by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. They also have an app. Go to the map tab → set your location (GPS or type an address) → check “Night/Holiday” → select “Pharmacy.” You’ll see pins on a map with distance and operating hours. The real advantage of this site: you can find open clinics and ERs on the same screen.

Step 4 — Map apps

Search “심야약국” (night pharmacy) or “24시 약국” (24-hour pharmacy) in Naver Map or KakaoMap and check the hours filter. This is the fastest route, but listed hours don’t always match reality — cross-check with one of the official sites above before you trek across town.

📍 Open in Naver Map

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When should I skip the convenience store and go straight to the ER?

Convenience store medicine is meant to get you through a mild episode until morning. If any of these apply, don’t buy anything — call 119 or go straight to an emergency room.

Emergency numbers in Korea: 119 (ambulance/fire), 112 (police). For foreign tourists, 1330 is the Korea Tourism Organization’s 24-hour multilingual hotline — they’ll interpret and help you explain your situation. For a breakdown of what hospital visits actually cost, see my foreigner hospital cost guide.

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Is this list changing in 2026?

It might. In June 2026, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced a push to expand convenience store medicines from the current 11 to the legal maximum of 20 items under the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act. The same proposal appeared in the ministry’s July presidential briefing. The plan is to gather expert and stakeholder input, then revise the designation notice in December 2026. Industry watchers expect anti-diarrheals, antacids, and wound treatments to be the likely additions.

The same revision is expected to loosen the “24-hour store only” rule. Here’s why: 556 townships across Korea (15.3% of all 3,306) have zero pharmacies at all. In many of those same towns, there’s no 24-hour convenience store either — so the current rule actually blocks access in the places that need it most.

Translation: asking a convenience store clerk “Is this safe for me?” is pointless. The mandatory training is a one-time four-hour session required at registration — and the person actually standing at the register almost certainly didn’t take it. Read the ingredient label yourself.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Do I need my passport or ID? No. If you look like an adult, you just pay and go. If you look young, the clerk might check your age — remember, sales to anyone under 12 are prohibited.

Q. Can I pay with a card? Yes. Foreign-issued credit cards, Samsung Pay, Apple Pay — pretty much everything works.

Q. Can I return medicine after I buy it? Pharmaceuticals are non-refundable and non-exchangeable by law. Check the ingredients and dosage before you pay.

Q. Are the instructions in English? Most are Korean-only. The active ingredient names are usually listed in both Korean and English though — cross-check against the ingredient table above.

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