The East Asian nation is home to several cultured meat start-ups such as TissenBioFarm and Seawith, and had previously already started developing guidelines to govern of this sector several years back, including a set of temporary standards.
In June 2026, the local Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) issued a new announcement that it would be pushing ahead with the development of new, formal standards and specifications for ‘cell-cultured processed foods’, officially expanding its focus from meat alternatives to the wider cultured foods sector.
“At present, cell-cultured food ingredients may only be used in food products after they have been recognised by the criteria in the existing temporary standards. We have established new general standards for this [and will review current items in this list] to move these up from the current temporary status,” MFDS Ministery Oh Yoo-kyung said via a formal statement.
“Additionally, a new category called ‘cell-cultured processed foods’ will be established in order to better reflect the characteristics of ingredients and manufacturing processes used in the production of these products, for which corresponding standards and specifications will also be defined.”
Food safety continues to play an exceedingly important role in the updated regulations, with factors such as bacterial count, bacteria type, acidity and peroxide values featuring prominently as specific analysis targets.
“This amendment is expected to establish a comprehensive Korean safety management system for foods made using new technology,” she added.
“This will in turn support the development of Korea’s food industry [and ensure we are evolving in line] with international standards.”
The development of these regulations will finally provide firms with a clear framework and pathway by which to apply for regulatory approval, in a market that think tank Good Food Institute (GFI) has identified as the largest cultivated meat startup ecosystem in the Asia Pacfic region.
South Korea’s rise to dominance
For many years now, Singapore has been at the forefront of the alternative protein movement on all fronts from plant-based to cultured meat.
The end of 2025 however saw Singapore fall in at second place behind South Korea, with eight active specialised cultured companies behind the latter’s 10.
This means that South Korea has also risen as one of the largest cultured meat sectors globally, falling behind only the United States (30), Israel (16), and the United Kingdom (14).
“This comes on the heels of two big South Korean government initiatives: the launch of a Food Tech Research Support Center focused on cultivated meat which will open in 2027 with support from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA); [and] the 2025 enforcement of the Food Tech Industry Promotion Act which empowered MAFRA to provide direct support to businesses,” GFI stated.
MFDS’ recent announcement further cements the government’s resolve to pursue growth in this area, and already many local and international players have been positioning themselves to take advantage of this.
Some key breakthroughs have emerged out of Sough Korea in the past few years, including Yonsei University scientist-led ‘beef rice’, a hybrid product where beef cells were cultivated in rice grains to create a protein-rich alternative to conventional rice.
Several local cultured product firms are primed for launch and just waiting for regulatory approval to come through due to the country’s establishment of areas such as the Gyeongbuk Cell-Cultivated Foods Regulation-Free Special Zone which hosts these companies under special permission with regard to tissue usage and biopsies to accelerate industry growth.
