Despite ban removal, women’s access to abortion pills faces legal void in Korea

21 Oct. 2025

Six years after Korea’s Constitutional Court struck down the country’s abortion ban, women seeking to end a pregnancy still face a legal void. The government has yet to approve abortion pills, and thousands are turning to the internet, where unverified drugs circulate in an expanding underground market.

Authorities uncovered 2,641 cases of illegal online sales of abortion medication since 2021, when the abortion ban lost effect, according to new data from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety submitted to Rep. Nam In-soon of the Democratic Party on Tuesday.

Continued: https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2025-10-21/national/socialAffairs/Despite-ban-removal-womens-access-to-abortion-pills-faces-legal-void-in-Korea/2425241

21.10.2025

Ministry of Food and Drug Safety

5 years on, abortion pill Mifegymiso still stalled in Korea’s regulatory limbo

Yun-mi
2025.07.30

Five years have passed since the Constitutional Court ruled that the abortion law was unconstitutional, but abortion by medication remains in a legal gray area. Nothing shows this better than the failure to introduce the abortion pill Mifegymiso (mifepristone and misoprostol) into Korea due to legislative gaps.

“We need a legal basis to begin the approval process for Mifegymiso tablets. Currently, we cannot proceed with its substantive review due to a lack of such a basis,” an official at the Drug Approval Division of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) told journalists on Wednesday.

Continued: https://www.koreabiomed.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=28411

30.07.2025

News

abortion pills

Hyundai Pharm

Maternal and Child Health Act

Mifegymiso

mifepristone and misoprostol

Ministry of Food and Drug Safety

South Korea – Regulator cautious about approving abortion drug Mifegymiso

Kim Chan-hyuk
Published 2021.07.12

Hyundai Pharm recently applied for marketing approval for Mifegymiso, an abortion pill, but the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) remained passive to accelerate the review process.

Industry watchers are questioning why the regulator has reversed its stance after promising accelerated approval for the drug.

Continued: http://www.koreabiomed.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=11609

12.07.2021