Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
Why Korean airports ban most battery-heated gadgets in cabin and checked bags
Information about carrying portable batteries onboard airplanes is displayed at the departure hall of Incheon International Airport March 12, 2025. Newsis
By Lee Hae-rin
Guide to restrictions on cordless hair tools and other lithium-powered devices
Korea is tightening restrictions on battery-heated gadgets on airplanes, effectively banning most cordless hair tools and similar devices from both carry-on and checked luggage amid mounting fears over in-flight lithium-ion battery fires.
The issue drew fresh attention after Australian traveler Ellie Tran was forced to abandon a wireless hair straightener worth around 500,000 won ($399) at Incheon International Airport before boarding a flight home to Sydney.
Tran told British outlet Daily Mail that she had checked in the same model multiple times without incident and had even flown into Korea with it, only to be told on departure that it had to be discarded. The device contained a built-in lithium-ion battery that cannot be removed, which security officials flagged as a fire risk.
Korean airlines now prohibit cordless straighteners, curling irons, portable irons and rechargeable hand warmers with non-removable batteries in both cabin and checked baggage on all routes.
The crackdown isn’t limited to hair tools. Security officials at Incheon and other major Korean air hubs are increasingly flagging a wider range of battery-powered devices that generate heat or high-intensity light.
The only exceptions are devices with batteries that can be physically removed or completely disconnected with a flight-ready or airplane mode switch that cuts power to the heating element.
A notice warning passengers against placing portable batteries in overhead bins is displayed at Air Busan’s domestic check-in counter at Gimpo International Airport in Seoul, Feb. 19, 2025. Newsis
These rules reflect International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) dangerous goods guidance, which urges strict control of active lithium-powered devices because cargo fire suppression systems struggle to contain battery fires.
Authorities say the clampdown follows a string of incidents involving battery fires on or near Korean aircraft.
In January last year, a portable battery explosion on an Air Busan flight at Gimhae International Airport severely damaged the aircraft, and separate cases of smoking or burning power banks have been recently reported on flights to and from Incheon. The episodes reinforced regulators’ view that any device capable of self-heating in an enclosed space can rapidly become life-threatening if thermal runaway spreads to nearby items.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has since ordered airlines to treat “non-removable battery heating devices” as high risk, while tightening rules on where and how other lithium batteries are carried.
Following a series of incidents since March 2025, passengers are increasingly advised to keep power banks and e-cigarettes in designated pouches and on their person, rather than in overhead bins, to ensure immediate response in case of a fire. The charging of portable power banks during flights is also strictly restricted.
Incheon airport guidance also stresses that lithium batteries over 160 watt-hours are barred, and even smaller spares are allowed only in the cabin under airline-specific limits.
An Asiana Airlines employee distributes "No Battery" tags to passengers at the airline's check-in counter at Terminal 2 of Incheon International Airport, Wednesday. Yonhap
The crackdown aligns Korea with Japan, where have regulators similarly banned cordless hair tools with non-removable batteries from both the cabin and baggage hold. The United States and European countries also restrict such items to carry-on bags with mandatory safety covers and anti-activation locks.
Travelers don’t necessarily have to throw away their expensive gadgets.
Since 2017, Incheon airport operates a “storage and courier” desk near security where passengers can store items until a future trip or ship them to a Korean address instead of throwing them away, though battery products cannot be sent by air abroad.