The number of illegally imported obesity treatment drugs detected surged in the first half of this year, driven largely by drugs ordered from foreign websites and shipped through international mail. According to the Korea Customs Service (KCS) Monday, authorities detected 4,155 instances of illegal imports of Mounjaro, Wegovy and other obesity drugs between January and June, nearly 3.5 times the 1,189 cases for all of last year. Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Eli Lilly's Mounjaro are both once-weekly injectable obesity treatments that suppress appetite. Wegovy launched in Korea in 2024, while Mounjaro followed in 2025. Illegal import cases have risen quickly since the two drugs' domestic debuts, from four cases in 2024 to 1,189 last year and more than 4,000 in the first half of this year. By comparison, only 596 cases were formally cleared through customs via import companies over the same period, rising from 14 in 2024 to 191 in 2025 and 391 in the first half of this year. International mail was the most common route, accounting for 84.8 percent of cases, as more people ordered the drugs fro