Korea's 2025 Dietary Reference Intakes (한국인 영양소 섭취기준): carbohydrate range down to 50–65%, protein up to 10–20%, first-ever choline values, ~20 nutrients revised, and reworked sugar guidance — with every change sourced.
Korea's 2025 Dietary Reference Intakes (한국인 영양소 섭취기준): carbohydrate range down to 50–65%, protein up to 10–20%, first-ever choline values, ~20 nutrients revised, and reworked sugar guidance — with every change sourced.
December 31, 2025 · South Korea · KDRIs
South Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare released the 2025 Korean Dietary Reference Intakes (한국인 영양소 섭취기준) on 31 December 2025 — the second five-year revision since the standards were enacted nationally in 2015, developed with the Korean Nutrition Society.
The acceptable carbohydrate range drops from 55–65% of energy to 50–65%, and protein rises from 7–20% to 10–20% (fat stays 15–30%). Choline gets Korean reference values for the first time, and around 20 nutrients were revised, including dietary fiber, vitamin B6, calcium, phosphorus, and sodium.
Sugar guidance was reworked: total sugars at or below 20% of energy, added sugars below 10%, with new advice to minimize sugary-drink intake.
What it means: Korea's official targets now say relatively less carbohydrate and more protein. Our Korean guidelines pages document the 2020 edition — a 2025 review is on our list.
Sources: MOHW press release (보건복지부 (Ministry of Health and Welfare)) · Korean Nutrition Society (2025 KDRIs) (한국영양학회)
The Korean Dietary Reference Intakes are the country's official nutrient targets — the Korean counterpart of the US DRIs — enacted nationally in 2015 and revised on a five-year cycle by the Ministry of Health and Welfare with the Korean Nutrition Society. The 2025 edition, released 31 December 2025 after a three-year revision project, is the second full revision, following 2020. It covers 41 nutrients.
The headline is the macronutrient balance. The acceptable range for carbohydrate drops from 55–65% of energy to 50–65%, and protein rises from 7–20% to 10–20%, while fat stays at 15–30%. Korea's official targets now leave meaningfully more room for protein-forward eating — a directional echo of what the 2025–2030 US guidelines did the same winter, arrived at independently.
Choline gets Korean reference values for the first time — an adequate intake and an upper limit. Around twenty nutrients were revised in total, among them dietary fiber, vitamin B6, calcium, phosphorus, and sodium.
Sugar guidance was restructured: total sugars at or below 20% of energy (the 2020 edition phrased this as a 10–20% range), added sugars below 10%, and — new as explicit advice — minimizing sugary-drink intake.
What it means for this site: our Korean dietary guidelines pages and the Korea calculator document the 2020 edition — the KDRIs the current 식품구성자전거 (Food Balance Bicycle) serving patterns were built on. We state edition provenance on those pages and never silently swap reference values; a full 2025 review of the Korea hub is queued, and until it ships, the 2020 provenance line stays. If you need the 2025 values themselves today, the primary sources below carry the full tables.
For educators: the practical classroom takeaway is the carbohydrate floor moving from 55% to 50% and protein's floor moving from 7% to 10% — worksheets that quote the 2020 ranges are now one edition behind.