Korean Inner Beauty (2026): Collagen Sticks, Tea & Seaweed Soup

Roasted barley grains for making Korean barley tea, seen close up

Written by YUNA, the pen name behind Hello Korea Tips. Every guide is checked against official sources before it goes up.

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Last checked: November 1, 2026

In Korea, “inner beauty” (이너뷰티) covers products like collagen jelly sticks and drinks. I’d try a jelly stick once, for the taste and the format. The teas and the birthday seaweed soup further down are everyday Korean food, so I’d try those as food.

Quick answer

  • 🛍️ Try once: a collagen jelly stick, eaten from the pack
  • 📍 Tea trip: Seogwang Tea Garden, if Jeju is on your trip
  • ✅ On the box: 건강기능식품, the health functional food mark

What does “inner beauty” mean in Korea?

Neat rows of green tea bushes on a hillside at Daehan Dawon in Boseong
Rows of green tea bushes at a plantation in Boseong, South Jeolla. Photo: S Shamima Nasrin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

It is a big market. Herald Business, citing Shinhan Investment Corp., put it at 500 billion won in 2019 and over 2 trillion won in 2025. The same report says products with collagen, hyaluronic acid, and probiotics have moved the market beyond plain vitamins.

A lot of it comes as jelly sticks that you eat straight from the pack, with no water. In convenience stores, the collagen boom showed up early. Emart24 said sales of collagen products from March 20 to April 12, 2023 were up 355% on a year earlier, and collagen drinks were up 147%.

How to read a health food box

Some of these products are sold as health functional foods (건강기능식품). The mark for that category means the product is a health functional food recognized under the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s standards.

The HACCP mark, which you’ll see on lots of ordinary food, looks similar but doesn’t mean the product is a health functional food.

The ministry has also redesigned the health functional food mark, because shoppers were confusing it with the HACCP mark. It proposed the change on July 1, 2026, made it final on September 15, 2026, and the new labeling rules take effect on January 1, 2028. I couldn’t read the rules for products already on shelves, so I’d check the ministry’s latest labeling notice before your trip.

If you want to check a product, Korean news reports point to the Food Safety Korea portal (식품안전나라), where you can search by product or company name. It is in Korean, so I’d copy the product name from the box.

If you’re planning to take supplements home, check your own country’s rules first. In the US, the FDA has a page on personal importation, and US Customs and Border Protection says travelers must declare meats, fruits, plants, and other plant and animal products. For anything else, its advice is: “If in doubt, declare it.”

Tea at the table: barley, corn, and corn silk

A cup of Korean barley tea, a pale brown drink served with meals
A cup of Korean barley tea, a common drink with meals. Photo: 국립국어원, CC BY-SA 2.0 kr, via Wikimedia Commons

Barley tea (보리차, boricha) is served with meals in Korea, hot in winter and cold in summer, and it’s often mixed with roasted corn.

Corn silk tea (옥수수수염차) is a separate drink that’s sold in bottles. Kwangdong makes one, and Kurly, a Korean online grocer, lists it in a 1.5 L bottle, so check the size on the label if you only want one for the day. If you want to try one Korean drink from a convenience store fridge, I’d pick this one.

Green tea: where it grows

Two well-known green tea areas are Boseong in South Jeolla and Jeju Island. Neither is a day out from Seoul, since Boseong is a long trip south and Jeju is a flight away, so I’d plan either one as part of a longer trip. A 2008 Korea Times piece on Korean tea says Jeju teas are known for a slightly salty taste because the fields are close to the sea.

In Boseong, the Korea Herald describes Daehan Dawon as one of five major tea plantations, with three main walking paths through its tea fields. The Tea Museum of Korea is a 15 to 20 minute walk from it.

The O'Sulloc Tea Museum building beside green tea fields on Jeju Island
The O’Sulloc Tea Museum and its tea fields on Jeju Island. Photo: Matt Kieffer, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

If Jeju is already on your trip, Seogwang Tea Garden is the one I’d pick. It is free to enter, open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. in summer and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in winter. The O’Sulloc Tea Museum sits right next to it, so you can see both in one visit.

The museum opened in September 2001 as Korea’s first tea museum, and its tea house serves green tea ice cream. Its own hours vary by season and the sources I read disagree, so I would check its site before you go.

Omija, yuja, and the sweet ones

A glass of hot yuja tea served in a cafe in Seoul
A glass of yuja tea, made from the yuja citrus, in a Seoul cafe. Photo: Drew Lietzow, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Omija means “five tastes”: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and pungent. The dried berries are boiled, and the drink is usually mixed with honey. Yuja tea (유자차) is made from yuja, a citrus also called yuzu, preserved in honey or sugar, and you stir a spoonful into hot water.

A jar of yuja tea is a food gift I’d consider. Pack the jar in your checked bag, and check your own country’s food rules first, the same as with supplements.

Yuna’s pick

One drink to try: bottled corn silk tea from a convenience store.

One food trip: Seogwang Tea Garden and the O’Sulloc museum on Jeju.

One gift: a jar of yuja tea, if your customs rules allow it.

Seaweed soup on your birthday

If your trip includes a birthday, you may be offered miyeokguk (미역국), seaweed soup. Korea.net calls it a must-eat dish on birthdays, and it’s meant to remind you of your mother, who gave birth to you. The Korea JoongAng Daily traces the custom to a folk belief that new mothers should eat seaweed, and it’s usually eaten at breakfast.

On a birthday it means something, so I’d say yes if someone offers you a bowl.

Honest take

I’d try a jelly stick once, buy a bottle of corn silk tea at a convenience store, and save the tea fields for a trip that already includes Jeju.

FAQ

Are health functional foods medicine?

No. They are foods with a ministry mark. If you’re thinking of one for a health reason, I’d ask a doctor or pharmacist at home first.

Is barley tea free in restaurants?

It’s commonly served with meals. I wouldn’t count on every restaurant, but you’ll see it often.

Is corn silk tea the same as corn tea?

No. Roasted corn is often mixed into barley tea, while corn silk tea is made from the silk, the fine threads at the top of an ear of corn. In a convenience store, the bottle label says 옥수수수염차, and the word 수염 (silk) is the part that tells them apart.

Seogwang’s hours and the health food mark are the details I’d check close to your trip. If you notice a change, tell me on the Contact page and I’ll update the guide.

Hwaiting!

Yuna

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Sources and last check

How I put this guide together: from Korean news on the health functional food mark and the inner beauty market, plus VISITKOREA and Visit Jeju. I also used Korea.net, the Korea JoongAng Daily, the Korea Times, the Korea Herald, and Wikipedia for yuja tea. I checked them on November 1, 2026. The US government pages on bringing goods home, the news piece on checking the health food mark, Wikipedia on yuja tea, and Kwangdong’s bottle sizes come from search previews. Nothing here is health advice. No brand paid to be included, and none reviewed this guide. More on how I research every guide is on the About page.

Last checked: November 1, 2026. Hours and rules change, so please confirm before you go. This is general food and culture information, not medical advice, and this guide isn’t affiliated with any brand or store.

Sources:

Cover image: Roasted barley for barley tea. Photo: Fumikas Sagisavas, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

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