Head of Korean human rights watchdog flip-flops on abortion rights ahead of GANHRI special review

After removing his name from last year’s statement, Ahn Chang-ho appears to have done a 180 on the issue only a month out from a special review by GANHRI

2025-09-29

Marking International Safe Abortion Day on Sunday, Ahn Chang-ho, the head of South Korea’s human rights watchdog, issued a statement saying that Korea can “no longer neglect the legislative vacuum regarding guarantees for the right to a safe abortion.”

The statement called for guarantees for abortion rights and for the country to make abortion pills available. But only a year earlier, Ahn called for his name to be removed from a press release making similar demands, raising suspicions about his sudden about-face.

Continued: https://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_national/1221384.html

29.09.2025

News

abortion law reform

Ahn Chang-ho

International Safe Abortion Day

Nam Kyu-sun

National Human Rights Commission of Korea

SOUTH KOREA – Gov’t urged to establish safe abortion laws after six-year legal vacuum

28 Sep. 2025
YOON SO-YEON

Korea's human rights watchdog urged the government and parliament to end the ongoing six-year legal vacuum for safe and legal pregnancy termination in line with the International Safe Abortion Day, which falls every year on Sept. 28.

"The Constitutional Court ruled the old abortion law, which failed to balance between women's rights to her own body and the life of the fetus, as a violation of the Constitutional Law in April 2019, but the government and the National Assembly have still not established a new law to fill the vacancy," said the National Human Rights Commission of Korea on Sunday.

Continued: https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2025-09-28/national/socialAffairs/Govt-urged-to-establish-safe-abortion-laws-after-sixyear-legal-vacuum/2409990

28.09.2025

News

abortion law reform

International Safe Abortion Day

National Human Rights Commission of Korea

SOUTH KOREA – Debate reignites in South Korea over legalisation of abortion pills

Sep 03, 2025

SEOUL - South Korea’s Constitutional Court declared the criminalisation of pregnancy termination unconstitutional in 2019, but the country remains mired in legal and medical limbo, leaving women to deal with uncertainty, stigma and unsafe alternatives.

Without follow-up legislation to regulate and guarantee safe access, women seeking abortions are forced into what advocates call a “blind spot”.

Hospitals often refuse to perform procedures without clear legal guidelines. Women are then left to scour online forums or underground markets to buy smuggled drugs at exorbitant prices, raising risks of counterfeit pills and severe health complications.

Continued: https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/debate-reignites-in-south-korea-over-legalisation-of-abortion-pills

03.09.2025