Korean court to rule on abortion case as legal void turns pregnancy termination into murder trial

01 Mar. 2026
KIM JU-YEON

In a country with no abortion law since 2021, a woman terminated a 36-week pregnancy and now faces a murder conviction. Civic groups are urging a Seoul court to find her not guilty as she awaits a verdict on Wednesday.

The incident began with a video uploaded in June 2024, in which the woman, surnamed Kwon, documented terminating her pregnancy at 36 weeks. Public shock and an online witch hunt followed. Kwon deleted the video, but the controversy escalated into a police investigation after the Ministry of Health and Welfare referred the case to authorities.

Continued: https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2026-03-01/national/socialAffairs/Korean-court-to-rule-on-abortion-case-as-legal-void-turns-pregnancy-termination-into-murder-trial/2534121

01.03.2026

News

Center for Sexual Rights and Reproductive Justice

South Korea – Pros and cons of physicians’ right to refuse abortion procedures discussed at forum

Kim Jung-hyun
7 Aug 2025

Six years after Korea's abortion ban was ruled unconstitutional, renewed calls are emerging to grant doctors the right to refuse to perform abortion procedures.

Proponents argue that medical professionals should be allowed to opt out of performing abortions based on personal conscience, beliefs, or religious convictions.

Continued: https://www.koreabiomed.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=28532

‘No update since 2019’: Korea’s inaction on abortion issue leaves women in limbo

July 7, 2024

It was November 2021 when Kim, a woman in her 30s living in one of the seven largest cities in Korea, terminated her pregnancy at four weeks. She first took pills that she does not remember the name of after being prescribed them at a nearby hospital, but she ended up revisiting a gynecology doctor she had been seeing for a long time after the pills didn’t work.

“I asked for an operation and the doctor suddenly turned cold, so I had to look for another hospital,” she said. “She only told me to come back with ‘a guardian,’ and I didn’t get the information that I needed about the operation. I regretted having gone to such a doctor for so long.”

Continued: https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2024-07-07/culture/features/No-update-since-2019-Koreas-inaction-on-abortion-issue-leaves-women-in-limbo-/2084041