A pet died in South Korea. The trade needs a permit, and the legal default is a rubbish bag
Elsewhere in this series the trade is registered, licensed by a state, permitted by a city — or left alone entirely. Korea is different: the Animal Protection Act makes the pet funeral business a permitted trade, and running one without a permit is an offence. Yet the same legal system recognises the household rubbish bag as a lawful way to dispose of the body. This is where the gap between Korean law and Korean sentiment is widest.
Laws change. Everything below was checked against the sources at the foot of this page on the date shown there.
The first hours
Keep the body cool
Lay them on a towel or a training pad in the coolest room you have. Wrap a cold pack in a towel and place it at the neck and abdomen — never directly against the skin. In summer, time is the body's condition, so decide the next step as early as you can.
Choose one of three routes
A permitted funeral operator can cremate and return the ashes. If the animal died at a clinic, the clinic handles it as medical waste. If it died at home and nothing else is available, the household waste bag is a lawful route — though one most owners cannot bring themselves to use.
Check the register before you choose an operator
The National Animal Protection Information System (animal.go.kr) lets you check whether a business holds a funeral permit. Korea is the only place in this series with a public register to check. Then confirm the rest in writing: individual or communal cremation, whether ashes come back, and what the total price is.
Do not bury the body yourself
Burying or burning a carcass anywhere other than a permitted or reported waste facility is not allowed, and carries an administrative fine. A park or a hillside is the worst version of this — quite apart from the fine, you will never find the place again.
What the law actually says
Korea is the only place in this series where national legislation itself makes the trade a permitted activity. But what lingers is the opposite fact: the last-resort option the same law recognises is the rubbish bag.
Pet funerals are a permitted trade
The Animal Protection Act makes the pet funeral business a permitted trade, requiring a permit from the competent local government before trading, with unlicensed operation an offence. The contrast is clear: New York licenses through the state, Taiwan issues permits through city governments, and Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore, California, Florida and mainland China have no dedicated licence for this trade at all. Korea is the only place here where national legislation designates the trade and requires prior approval.
Animal Protection Act — funeral permit and operator duties · 2026-07-07
But the legal default is household waste
Under the waste management framework a pet's body is classified as waste. That makes putting the body of a pet who died at home into a standard household waste bag one of the lawful disposal routes. To a grieving owner that sounds brutal — but knowing what is lawful matters to someone with no other option that day.
Waste Management Act — carcass as waste, limits on burial and burning · 2026-10-24
Burial is not one of the options
Burying or burning a carcass outside a permitted or reported waste facility is not allowed, and an administrative fine applies. The stories about burying a pet in the garden circulate widely, but they happen because enforcement did not reach them — not because the law allows it.
Waste Management Act — carcass as waste, limits on burial and burning · 2026-10-24
Dying at a clinic removes one decision
Where the animal dies during treatment, the body is handled as medical waste. That spares you from finding an operator — but it also means no ashes. If you want ashes back, raise it with the vet before the end, not after.
There is a register you can actually check
The National Animal Protection Information System lists permitted funeral operators. What the register tells you is whether a permit exists. It does not tell you about service quality, whether the price is fair, or whether “individual cremation” is honoured in practice. The register is a starting point, not a verdict.
National Animal Protection Information System — permitted operator register · 2026-10-24
Where the body can go
Four routes, and one of them is lawful but nobody recommends it.
A permitted funeral operator
The formal route, with cremation and ashes returned. Check the permit on the register, then pin down in writing whether the cremation is individual or communal, in what form the ashes come back, and when extra charges arise. Permitted facilities are fewer than demand, so bookings often run late.
Your veterinary clinic
If the animal died under treatment, the clinic processes the body as medical waste. It is the simplest path, but no ashes remain. If you want ashes, talk to the vet beforehand about whether they can refer you to an operator.
The household waste bag
Lawful, but not something to recommend. If you truly have no other option that day, knowing it is not illegal may help. Local ordinances can differ on how the bag is put out, so check with your district office.
Burying the body
Not allowed — in a park, on a hillside, by a stream, or in the yard of a rented house. In Korea burial is something you can get away with, not something you may do.
How this is regulated
The centre writes the law, the city issues the permit, and a third body does the enforcement.
The agriculture ministry designs the system
The Animal Protection Act and its decree and rules set the requirements for funeral operators — facility standards, staffing, and the operator's duties. Local governments assess permit applications against those standards.
Animal Protection Act — funeral permit and operator duties · 2026-07-07
Permits and sanctions belong to local government
Granting the permit, requiring approval for changes, and imposing suspension or revocation all sit with the competent local authority. The practical consequence: within one country, how fast an application moves and how hard enforcement bites depends on where you live.
Animal Protection Act — funeral permit and operator duties · 2026-07-07
Environmental rules stack on top
A cremation facility is also a reported air-emission source. When provincial special judicial police catch an unlicensed operator, they commonly apply both the Animal Protection Act and the air environment Act. Which means checking only the funeral permit gets you half the picture.
Waste Management Act — carcass as waste, limits on burial and burning · 2026-10-24
The register is public; the assessment is not
Anyone can query permitted operators. No public body publishes price comparisons or service assessments. That is also why this site does not build an operator list: the register exists, and what is missing is judgement, not names.
National Animal Protection Information System — permitted operator register · 2026-10-24
On private companies
Businesses in this sector are ordinary commercial services, and engaging one is lawful. No agency here publishes an approved list of providers, and none has vetted their standards. Because of that, this page does not list, rank or recommend any of them, and does not reproduce their addresses, phone numbers or prices — a list on a page like this one would read as an endorsement we are in no position to give. The public contacts below are the ones worth using.
Public resources
- Animal Protection Act (National Law Information Centre)The statute behind the funeral permit and the operator's duties. Read the articles on the site itself.
- Waste Management Act (National Law Information Centre)Why a carcass counts as waste, and the limits on burial and burning.
- National Animal Protection Information System (animal.go.kr)The register of permitted funeral operators, plus animal protection policy material. The only official place to check.
Frequently asked questions
Can I bury my pet in the garden?
No. Burying or burning a carcass outside a permitted or reported waste facility is not allowed and an administrative fine applies — in a park or on a hillside just the same. The garden-burial stories you hear happen because enforcement did not reach them, not because the law permits it.
How do I check whether an operator is permitted?
Through the National Animal Protection Information System at animal.go.kr. The register tells you whether the permit exists; it says nothing about quality or fair pricing. So you still need to confirm in writing whether the cremation is individual, how the ashes are returned, and what extra charges apply.
Is putting the body in a rubbish bag really lawful?
Under the waste management framework a pet's body is waste, so household waste bag disposal is one of the lawful routes. Local ordinances can differ on how the bag is put out, so check with your district office. Whether it is bearable is a separate question, and a real one.
If my pet dies at the clinic, can I still get the ashes?
No. A body that dies under treatment is processed as medical waste, so no ashes remain. If ashes matter to you, tell the vet before the end and ask whether they can refer you to a permitted funeral operator.
Can I report an unlicensed operator?
Yes. Operating without a funeral permit is an offence and local special judicial police enforce it. Ask your local government's animal protection department, or the guidance on the national system, for the reporting route.
Why is Korea the only one with a permit system?
Because it chose to designate the trade in statute and screen operators in advance, where others went with registration, state or city licensing, or no dedicated rules at all. The trade-off is visible: the highest barrier to entry in this series, and a shortage of permitted facilities relative to demand.
Sources
- Animal Protection Act — funeral permit and operator duties2026-07-07
- Waste Management Act — carcass as waste, limits on burial and burning2026-10-24
- National Animal Protection Information System — permitted operator register2026-10-24
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This page is general information about local law and public services. It is not legal advice and not a recommendation of any business. Local rules vary and change; check with the authority named in the sources before you act. We do not operate any service mentioned here and we accept no payment from anyone in this trade.
Last checked: 2026-10-24 · If something here is wrong or out of date, tell us — we date every correction instead of quietly editing it.