In February 2026, the Republic of Korea's Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment (MCEE, formerly the Ministry of Environment), pursuant to Article 42 (Disclosure of Chemical Substance Information) of the Act on the Registration and Evaluation of Chemicals (K-REACH) and Article 51 (Disclosure of Chemical Substance Information, Etc.) of its Enforcement Rule, disclosed the results of pre-registration (sajeon-singo) of existing chemical substances and released the latest update of the K-REACH pre-registration substance list.
According to the list, as of the end of 2025, a total of 17,666 existing chemical substances (counted by KE No., the Korea Existing Chemicals Inventory number) hold valid pre-registration records. The disclosed information covers company-reported manufacture/import tonnage bands, CMR (carcinogenic, mutagenic, or toxic to reproduction) status, and consumer-use status, among other items.
The tonnage band distribution is as follows:
- 1–10 t/year: 6,811 substances
- 10–100 t/year: 6,863 substances
- 100–1,000 t/year: 2,468 substances
- ≥1,000 t/year: 1,524 substances
Under K-REACH, existing chemical substances manufactured or imported in quantities of ≥1 tonne per year are subject to pre-registration, and must subsequently complete formal registration in phases, with deadlines determined by their tonnage band.
