Pharmacy Establishment Registration: Procedure and Required Documents — Building Use, Dispensing Room and Partitioning in Mixed Stores

Procedure

1. 1. Checking the location and building use

   Check whether the use shown in the building register allows a pharmacy, and if a change of use is needed, review it together with the local government's ordinance. A pharmacy cannot be opened inside a medical institution, in a space divided off from a medical institution's facilities, or in premises connected to a medical institution by a dedicated passage.

2. 2. Listing the items to be sold

   Make a list of what will be sold alongside drugs, such as health functional foods, quasi-drugs, cosmetics and medical devices. The additional reports required differ depending on whether the pharmacy founder sells them inside the pharmacy or a separate business operator runs a separate store.

3. 3. Designing the pharmacy partitioning and dispensing room

   The dispensing room is set up as an independent space, and prescription drugs are stored out of customers' reach. A pharmacy inside a supermarket or large store must be partitioned with fixed partitions or glass walls, not floor lines or movable display shelves, and it must be possible to close off the pharmacy area alone.

4. 4. Applying for establishment registration

   Submit the pharmacy establishment registration application (Attached Form 5) to the competent city, county or district (public health center). Because the official in charge checks the pharmacist's license through shared administrative information, the only attachment required by law is a copy of the oriental medicine pharmacist's license (for oriental medicine pharmacists; presenting the original may substitute for it), and after receipt the registration certificate is issued following a facility inspection. If the partitioning or storage structure is unclear at the on-site check, you will be required to supplement or correct it.

5. 5. Additional procedures

   To make tax-free sales to foreign tourists, go through the separate procedure for designation as a tax refund store (post-purchase tax-free store). If you also run a health functional food store as a separate business, a report of that sales business is also required.

Required documents

• Application for pharmacy establishment registration
• Copy of oriental medicine pharmacist's license (only if the applicant is an oriental medicine pharmacist; presenting the original may substitute for it; the pharmacist's license is checked by the official in charge through administrative information)
• Location map and floor plan of the pharmacy (showing the dispensing room and storage areas)
• Proof of the right to use the premises, such as the building register and lease contract
• For a mixed store, a partition drawing of the pharmacy area and materials explaining the method of operation

Fees

The application fee for pharmacy establishment registration is 10,000 won, and the fees for an application for change of registered details and a report of succession to the status of a pharmacy founder are 5,000 won each. Our office fee starts from the amount shown above and may vary depending on the mixed-store partitioning and the scope of additional reports; we will give you an exact quote after reviewing your documents.

See fees and official charges for this service →

Legal basis and review date

• Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, Article 20
• Enforcement Decree of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, Article 22-2
• Enforcement Rule of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, Article 7
• Enforcement Rule of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, attached Table 1-4
• Health Functional Foods Act, Article 6
• Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, Article 21
• Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, Article 21-2
• Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, Article 22
• Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, Article 93
• Enforcement Rule of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, Article 9
• Enforcement Rule of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, Article 9-2
• Enforcement Rule of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, Article 11-2
• Incheon Metropolitan City Ordinance on Delegation of Affairs, attached Table 5

Checked against the statutes on 2026-10-29

Statutes and public notices change, so each case needs to be checked individually. Statute titles are given in English for reference. The Korean statutes are the authoritative text.

Check these first

• Before signing a lease, first check the building use and the structural relationship with medical institutions.
• Do not use wording or banners on health functional food displays that could be mistaken as claiming an effect in treating disease.

Frequently asked questions