South Korea Food Allergy Hub:
Kimchi, Gochujang, and Hidden Seafood

In this hub

South Korea city guides

Key allergen questions in South Korea

Communicating your allergy in Korea

South Korea's allergen labeling system applies to packaged food, not restaurants. For restaurant communication, put it in writing rather than trying to say it. A Korean-language card reaches kitchen staff directly and uses the correct Korean terminology for each allergen.

Want to learn the Korean allergen words yourself, not just carry a card? See the full Korean food allergy phrasebook.

South Korea's packaged-food labeling

South Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety provides current allergen-labeling information for packaged food. Use the label on the exact product in front of you; product formulas and label guidance can change, and a packaged-food label does not explain how a restaurant manages shared preparation.

This information is useful for packaged food sold in supermarkets, convenience stores, and online retail. Restaurants are a different setting: ask about the recipe, sauce, stock, oil, utensils, and shared surfaces directly. A written card helps communicate the allergen, but it is not proof that the kitchen can prevent cross-contact.

Note on sesame: a label may not answer every sesame question you have, especially for prepared food. Check the current package information and ask separately about sesame oil, sesame seeds, garnishes, and shared tools.

Korean dishes: what to ask before ordering

Korean BBQ with a food allergy

Korean BBQ (samgyeopsal, bulgogi, galbi) can make the main ingredient visible, but cooking at the table does not remove questions about marinades, grills, tongs, banchan, sauces, and other diners' food:

• Marinades: Bulgogi and galbi commonly use soy sauce and sesame, but ask about the exact recipe. If you order plain pork belly, confirm that it is unmarinated.
• Shared grills: If the restaurant serves seafood on the same grill, cross-contamination is a real risk. Ask for a clean grill plate (새 불판 주세요: sae bul-pan ju-se-yo: please give me a new grill pan).
• Banchan (side dishes): Ask about sesame oil, soy, kimchi, jeot, fish, and shared serving utensils for each dish.
• Dipping sauces: Ssamjang usually involves doenjang and gochujang, so ask about soy, wheat, sesame, and the serving utensil. Plain salt may still need a clean utensil.

Cross-destination and preparation guides

Getting around South Korea

Managing an allergy on the move is easier when you control your own schedule rather than a shared group timetable, especially around meal timing and medication. Search trains, buses, and ferries between Korean cities below.

Emergency information for South Korea

• Emergency number: Call 119 for a medical emergency or ambulance in South Korea.
• Police: 112
• During a reaction: Follow your personal action plan and use prescribed emergency medication as directed. Do not delay care while trying to identify a particular hospital or pharmacy.
• Before travel: Save the address of the nearest emergency department, keep medication in your carry-on or day bag, and verify current hospital intake and language information before relying on it.
• Key emergency phrase: Show a written Korean-language card stating the allergen and seriousness. A card is more reliable than trying to pronounce a medical phrase during a reaction.

Travel insurance

Check three things before you buy a policy for a South Korea trip: does it cover emergency anaphylaxis treatment, does it exclude food allergies as a pre-existing condition, and does it include medical evacuation with a clear coverage limit if you're traveling to more remote areas.

Confirm that your chosen policy covers emergency treatment for an allergic reaction before purchase. Coverage for anaphylaxis, pre-existing conditions, evacuation, and other benefits depends on the current policy wording and your eligibility.

Pre-trip checklist

Complete pre-trip checklist for food allergy travel is available in our free food allergy travel checklist guide.

Frequently asked questions

Is South Korea safe for travelers with food allergies?

South Korea has Asia's most comprehensive mandatory allergen labeling system, covering 22 allergens on all packaged food. Korea's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety mandates several allergens most countries do not, including walnut, chicken, beef, squid, clams (oyster, abalone and mussel) and pine nuts, alongside the standard list of egg, milk, buckwheat, peanut, soy, wheat, mackerel, crab, shrimp, pork, peach, tomato and sulfites. That makes supermarkets and convenience stores (GS25, CU, 7-Eleven Korea, Emart24) one of the easiest environments in Asia for an allergy traveler. Restaurants are a different matter: Korean food service establishments carry no equivalent statutory disclosure obligation, though domestic allergy awareness is high. The practical challenge is that soy sauce (ganjang) and soybean paste (doenjang) underlie virtually all Korean cooking, sesame oil is the standard finishing element, and traditional kimchi contains jeot (fermented seafood paste). With a Korean-language written allergy card and advance communication, most Seoul food experiences are navigable.

What are the biggest allergen risks in Korean food?

Soy is the highest-risk allergen in Korean cuisine: ganjang (soy sauce) and doenjang (fermented soybean paste) are used as salt equivalents across Korean cooking, and gochujang frequently contains soy as well. Sesame is the second: sesame oil finishes virtually every banchan (side dish) and namul (seasoned vegetable), and sesame seeds coat mayak gimbap and many bread and pastry products, so sesame allergy needs flagging at every meal rather than once. Traditional kimchi contains jeot, either saeujeot (salted shrimp) or myeolchi-jeot (fermented anchovy), creating both a shellfish and a fish risk. Wheat appears in gochujang, which is the base of tteokbokki and bibimbap sauce and often uses wheat flour as a thickener, and in ramyeon, fried chicken batter and many processed snacks. Glass noodles (dangmyeon) are sweet potato starch and are gluten-free. Peanut and tree nut risk is relatively low compared to Southeast Asian cuisines.

Does kimchi contain shellfish?

Traditional kimchi is made with jeot, a fermented seafood paste, so it frequently is not safe with a shellfish or fish allergy. The two most common types are saeujeot (salted shrimp), which is a shellfish allergen, and myeolchi-jeot (fermented anchovy sauce), which is a fish allergen — so which one a kitchen uses determines which allergy is affected, and many recipes vary by restaurant and by region. Kimchi is not an occasional side dish in Korea but a default accompaniment, which means this is a per-meal question rather than a one-off one. Many restaurants in Seoul now offer vegan kimchi, made without jeot and usually substituted with kelp stock or a mushroom-based paste, to cater to international and domestic dietary preferences. Ask specifically: 'Kimchi-e saeujeot deureo innayo?' (Does the kimchi contain salted shrimp?) The Korean term to carry in writing is 새우젓 (saeujeot).

Does kimchi contain peanuts or tree nuts?

No, traditional kimchi does not contain peanuts or tree nuts. Its allergen risk comes from jeot, the fermented shrimp or anchovy paste used in the ferment, which introduces shellfish and fish rather than nuts. Peanut and tree nut allergens are uncommon in Korean cooking generally compared to Southeast Asian cuisines, where peanut is a routine garnish and sauce base, so the background level of risk is genuinely lower rather than merely less visible. Korea is also unusually well served on packaged food here: walnut and pine nuts are both on the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's mandatory disclosure list, which is broader than most countries require, so supermarket and convenience store products state nut content reliably. Restaurants carry no equivalent obligation, and kimchi recipes vary by restaurant and by region, so the answer for a specific kitchen still has to come from that kitchen. The Korean word to carry in writing is 땅콩 (ttangkong, peanut), on a written Korean-language allergy card rather than as a spoken request.

Does gochujang contain shellfish?

Usually no. Gochujang is typically a fermented chili paste made from red chili powder, glutinous rice and fermented soybeans, so its main allergens are soy and, depending on the brand, wheat — wheat flour is often used as a thickener. That matters because gochujang is the base of tteokbokki and of bibimbap sauce, so a wheat or soy allergy meets it across a lot of the menu rather than in one dish. Prepared restaurant sauces vary more than the bottled paste does, and a kitchen may add its own seafood stock or anchovy base to a gochujang-based sauce, so the sauce is worth asking about even though the paste itself is not usually a shellfish risk. In Korean dishes the more common shellfish risk is kimchi's jeot (fermented seafood paste), not gochujang.

How do I say food allergy in Korean?

The core phrase is 'Jeoneun [allergen]-e allereugi ga isseoyo' (저는 [allergen]에 알레르기가 있어요), I have an allergy to [allergen]. What makes it work is the allergen word you put in it, and the ones worth carrying in writing are 간장 (ganjang, soy sauce), 된장 (doenjang, soybean paste), 참깨 (chamkkae, sesame), 새우젓 (saeujeot, salted shrimp), 밀 (mil, wheat), 우유 (uyu, milk), 달걀 (dalgyal, egg), 땅콩 (ttangkong, peanut) and 생선 (saengseon, fish). For soy specifically: 'Jeoneun ganjang-gwa doenjang-e allereugi ga isseoyo' (저는 간장과 된장에 알레르기가 있어요). At a barbecue table, '새 불판 주세요' asks for a fresh grill plate, which matters more than any ingredient question there. For severity: 'I allergy ga sim-hameun saengmyeong-e wiheomaul su isseoyo' (이 알레르기가 심하면 생명에 위험을 수 있어요). In an emergency: 'Anaepillaksissi isseoyo, 119 bulleo juseyo' (아나필락시스가 있어요, 119 불러 주세요), I am having anaphylaxis, please call 119. A written Korean-language allergy card carrying these terms is more reliable than phonetic pronunciation in a busy Seoul restaurant.

Can you eat Korean BBQ with a food allergy?

Plain, unmarinated samgyeopsal (pork belly) on a clean grill is the lowest-risk Korean BBQ option. Marinated meats — bulgogi and galbi — contain both soy and sesame, since the marinade is built on ganjang and finished with sesame oil. The banchan that arrive unasked are the harder problem: side dishes and namul almost universally carry sesame oil, and kimchi brings the jeot question with it. Dipping sauces are soy-based by default, including ssamjang, which is built on doenjang. The grill plate itself matters as much as the order, because a marinade cooked on it before you arrived leaves residue. Stick to plain pork, plain rice and plain salt, ask for a clean grill plate, and hand over a written Korean-language card rather than relying on a verbal request in a busy restaurant.