South Korea's parcel packaging rule in 2027: 50% empty space, one layer, and the paper allowance

Korea is one of the few countries that puts a hard number on the empty space inside an online parcel. Its two-year guidance period ended in April 2026, so 2027 is the first full calendar year without one.

Since 30 April 2024, South Korea has limited parcels sent to consumers to 50% empty space and one layer of packaging, for packers with average annual sales of KRW 50 billion or more. Parcels whose length, width and height add up to 50 cm or less are exempt from the ratio. Cushioning counts as empty space, but wrapping a product in cushioning is not a layer. A ministry notice in force since 20 April 2026 allows 70% empty space where paper cushioning or a paper bag is used.

Checked against official sources on 28 October 2026.

South Korea is one of the countries we have shipped honeycomb paper wrap to. I do not read Korean, so I have linked every Korean text below. A Korean-speaking colleague can check my reading in five minutes, and I would ask yours to.

Who does the rule apply to?

The rule sits in the Korean Rules on standards for packaging materials and methods, 제품의 포장재질·포장방법에 관한 기준 등에 관한 규칙 (Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, text in force from 22 June 2026). Note 11 to its Annex 1 says single-use packaging used to deliver listed products to consumers may have at most 50% empty space and at most one layer.

1. The listed products include processed food and drinks, health supplements, cosmetics, detergents, toys, stationery, wallets and belts, shirts and underwear, and some small electronics such as cables, chargers and earphones. Gift sets of similar goods are covered too.
2. A packer whose average annual sales are below KRW 50 billion is exempt from both limits. That line is now written into the rule itself.
3. Packs whose length, width and height add up to 50 cm or less are exempt from the empty-space ratio, but not from the one-layer limit.

When the rule started, the ministry's own card news of 8 March 2024 said person-to-person sales and overseas direct purchases by individuals are outside it. It also announced the two-year guidance period from 30 April 2024.

For an exporter in India, that splits the market in two. If you sell to a Korean online seller or warehouse that packs parcels in Korea, they carry the rule, if they are above the threshold. If a Korean consumer buys directly from you abroad, the ministry's 2024 position was that the rule does not apply. Check that position again before you rely on it.

How is empty space measured?

The method is in the ministry notice on simple measurement methods, 제품의 포장재질 및 포장방법에 대한 간이측정방법 (Notice 2026-101, in force 20 April 2026). Its Annex 3 gives the formula:

Empty space (%) = (C − V) ÷ C × 100

1. C is the inside volume of the shipping box or mailer.
2. V is the product volume, taken from the outside length, width and height of the product's own pack, as if it were a box.
3. The answer is rounded to one decimal place.

The next line is the one that matters for anyone selling cushioning. Wrapping a product in cushioning inside the shipping pack is not packaging, and the space the cushioning fills is counted as empty space.

So the paper does not count as product. It counts as air.

What changed on 20 April 2026?

The ministry pre-announced the changes on 4 March 2026, and the notice took effect on 20 April 2026, the day it was issued. Here is what it says:

1. Where paper cushioning or a paper bag is used, the limit is 70% instead of 50%.
2. Where a flexible shipping pack, i.e. a mailer, contains at least 20% recycled plastic, the limit is 60%.
3. For packing on automated lines, the 50 cm size exemption gets an extra 10 cm. This applies only to equipment installed, or being installed, on 20 April 2026.
4. Glass, ceramics, clay, liquids, semi-liquids and products that melt are outside the standards where extra packaging is unavoidable to prevent breakage.
5. Packs holding two or more products together, and reused shipping packaging, are outside both limits.
6. Long or flat items are outside the empty-space ratio. Long means the two shorter sides are each at most 20% of the longest. Flat means the second-longest side is at least 4 times the shortest.

The fines are in the Act's enforcement decree, Annex 8: KRW 1 million for a first offence, 2 million for a second and 3 million for a third or later. Korean press reported that fines have applied since the guidance period ended on 30 April 2026. That start date is a press report, so I would not quote it to a customer as an official date.

A worked example

Here is one with round numbers. It is an example, not a real company.

Say a Korean online seller above the threshold ships a boxed stationery set. The set's own box measures 20 x 12 x 10 cm, so V is 2,400 cm³. It tries three shipping boxes, measured inside.

All three boxes measure more than 50 cm in length plus width plus height, so the ratio applies to each.

Look at the middle row. The same box fails with plastic air pillows and passes with paper. That is the whole value of the paper allowance.

Now the honest part. Paper cushioning will not rescue a box that is far too big. The first box fails at 70% too. The real fix there is a smaller box.

What this means for honeycomb paper wrap

Three things follow from the notice.

1. Wrapping a product in honeycomb paper and putting it in a shipping box is one layer, not two.
2. The wrap fills space, so it counts as empty space. With paper, the limit is 70%.
3. Honeycomb wrap grips the product, so the box can be closer to the product's size than loose fill allows. Our guide to choosing the right box size with honeycomb paper shows how to size it.

One question the notice leaves open is mixing. It does not say what happens when paper and plastic cushioning share a box. If a parcel needs the 70% line, I would keep it all-paper.

What to do before your 2027 orders

1. Ask your Korean customer whether it is above the KRW 50 billion line, and which listed product groups it ships.
2. Send a spec sheet that says plainly the cushioning is paper, with the grade and composition. An inspector's question is easier to answer with a document in the file.
3. Run the formula on the customer's ten bestselling products with the boxes they use today. You will see in an hour which boxes fail.
4. Offer narrower widths or pre-cut sheets where packers overfill. Our post on narrow honeycomb rolls covers small items.
5. For glass and ceramics, check whether the fragile-goods exemption covers the product before anyone cuts cushioning to pass a ratio.
6. If you sell direct to Korean consumers, ask a Korean adviser whether the 2024 position on overseas direct purchases still holds.

Our post on finding protective packaging in bulk in South Korea covers the buying side: names, routes and importing.

We quote FOB from Mundra port as standard. Tell us your Korean customer's top products and box sizes through our contact page, and we will suggest a width and a cushioning method that keeps each box inside the line.