South Korea bans Spirobrorphine as temporary narcotic and consolidates list

South Korea’s 식품의약품안전처 (Ministry of Food and Drug Safety) designated Spirobrorphine, a synthetic opioid, as a temporary narcotic, in a notice published in 관보 제21357호 of 9 November 2026 under reference 식품의약품안전처공고 제2026-537호. The designation takes effect on publication and makes all cultivation, manufacture, import, export, sale, possession and administration of the substance illegal. The same instrument also merges the ministry’s entire back catalogue of temporary-narcotic notices into one consolidated list of 160 substances.

The notice is issued under Article 5-2 of the 「마약류 관리에 관한 법률」 (Act on the Control of Narcotics), and is signed by the 식품의약품안전처장 (Minister of Food and Drug Safety). The stated ground is that the substance “is distributed domestically and internationally as a substitute for narcotics, raising concerns of harm to public health.” Spirobrorphine enters the list as entry No. 160 and is classified in Group 2, the lower of the two temporary-narcotic tiers.

A brorphine analogue with fentanyl-level potency

The ministry classifies Spirobrorphine structurally among “orphine analogues” and pharmacologically among synthetic opioids. Its chemical name is given as 8-[1-(4-bromophenyl)ethyl]-1-phenyl-1,3,8-triazaspiro[4.5]decan-4-one, and the designation covers the compound together with its salts, isomers and isomer salts.

• In-vitro testing found the substance’s EC50 at the μ-opioid receptor (MOR) to be similar to that of brorphine, a compound already scheduled as a narcotic.
• Its Emax measured 103% against a fentanyl baseline set at 100%, indicating a maximal effect at least comparable to fentanyl in the same assay.
• Canada’s health authority assessed that it could produce respiratory depression, sedation, nausea, vomiting, pruritus, dizziness, mood changes and impaired motor coordination, with smoking and vaping among the main routes of administration.
• It is already controlled in the United Kingdom (Temporary Class), Canada (Schedule V, Part 1) and China’s list of non-medical narcotics and psychotropic substances.

An immediate ban, with an official-use exception

Temporary designation triggers a prohibition list covering the full supply chain. From publication, the following acts are banned for the substance and its salts and isomers:

• Cultivation, extraction, manufacture, import and export, and possession or ownership for those purposes.
• Sale, brokering of sales, exchange, supply and provision, and possession or ownership for those purposes.
• Possession, ownership, use, transport, management, administration and storage.
• Any handling for official or public duties requires prior handling approval from the 식품의약품안전처장.

The notice cites Articles 3, 5, 5-2, 15, 41, 47, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 64 and 67 of the 「마약류 관리에 관한 법률」 as the provisions governing handling and disposal. The ministry also notes that a temporary designation lapses automatically from the date a substance is formally scheduled as a narcotic through amendment of the enforcement decree.

Fifteen years of notices folded into one list

Annex 2 of the notice tabulates 94 designation notices, from 식품의약품안전처공고 제2011-220호 of 21 November 2011 through the present 제2026-537호, and states that these are being consolidated “for the convenience of petitioners.” Four annexes accompany the notice:

• Annex 1, the consolidated list of designated substances, running to entry No. 160.
• Annex 2, the catalogue of prior designation notices.
• Annex 3, detailed chemical names for the listed substances.
• Annex 4, a pre-announced list of deletions and corrections.

Annex 4 shows the removal pathway in practice: Brorphine, the parent compound of the new entry, lost its temporary status on 9 December 2022 when it was scheduled as a narcotic, and MDPV did so on 8 June 2012. The designation followed a mandatory prior notice, 식품의약품안전처공고 제2026-504호 of 22 October 2026, which opened a comment period running from 22 October to 5 November 2026.

Why it matters

The change puts a fentanyl-comparable opioid under immediate domestic control at a moment when it was still only a foreign-listed substance, closing the gap between customs seizures and Korean law. For importers, e-commerce sellers and testing laboratories, the consolidated 160-entry list replaces more than a decade of scattered notices as the single reference for what is banned, while investigators gain an explicit legal basis for possession and administration charges.

Source: 관보 (Republic of Korea Official Gazette), 제21357호, 9 November 2026, section I (공고), official reference: 식품의약품안전처공고 제2026-537호.