South Korea Set to Approve Abortion Pills Next Year

Boxes Of Mifepristone A box of Mifepristone combined with misoprostol tablets is stored in a medicine storage facility in Tehatta, West Bengal, India, on May 17, 2026. —Soumyabrata Roy—NurPhoto/Getty Images South Korea this week announced that it plans to approve abortion medication, with restrictions, for the first time in a nation that used to have one of the strictest policies against abortion among developed countries.

Government officials are looking to authorize such medication seven years after the country’s Constitutional Court ruled a longstanding ban on most abortions unconstitutional.

While abortion was decriminalized, the South Korean parliament has yet to enact new regulations.

President Lee Jae-myung recognized this legal vacuum on social media and said the government’s decision to introduce abortion drugs in phases can improve protections for women who need access to medically safe procedures.

“During that time, women have been unable to obtain safe abortion drugs and have had to rely on overseas direct purchases or illegal transactions, taking risks in the process,” Lee said Thursday.

“Even while fixing a leaking roof, the floor gets wet.

I believe that doing what we can now, rather than waiting for a perfect solution, is a slightly better decision.” Won Min-kyong, Minister of Gender Equality and Family, said Wednesday that under the proposal, women up to nine weeks pregnant could acquire the drug with a prescription and only through hospitals or clinics.

The first rollout, starting in the first quarter of 2027, will span at least two years, and Won added that they will use this period to monitor for safety issues or side effects.

“We expect this to serve as an opportunity to strengthen the policy foundation for overall women’s health, including pregnancy, childbirth, and contraception,” Won said.

Before the 2019 ruling, abortion was strictly banned save for a few exceptions, including for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.

Estimates from South Korea’s Institute for Health and Social Affairs suggest that the number of abortions in the country had fallen from an estimated 241,411 in 2008 to just 32,063 in 2020, the last year for which statistics are available.

In 2011, the health ministry director at the time attributed the downward trend to “a combination of factors including easier accessibility and use of contraceptives, broadening anti-abortion campaigns, and an improved social environment for childbirth and childcare.” Prime Minister Han Seong-sook responded to critics and conservatives who are against the abortion medication plan, saying the government is also taking “concerns regarding the value of life” seriously.

“This measure is aimed at protecting the people’s health rather than encouraging abortion,” Han said.