South Korea restores and updates the names of 136 existing chemical substances following expiration of data protection period

On March 26, 2026, South Korea’s Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment published a draft partial amendment to the list of Existing Chemical Substances, publicly notified as Appendix 2 to the Act on Registration, Evaluation, etc. of Chemicals (K-REACH), and invited public comments through April 16, 2026. This proposed amendment is primarily intended to update and disclose information on substances for which companies applied for data protection (i.e., non-disclosure of information), following the expiration of the relevant protection periods.