Korea drops Hyundai Pharm's abortion pill review amid delay in legislation

Gov’t changes plan to help lawmakers pass bill instead of drafting its own

By Jung Min-ho

Korea suspended the review for approval of Hyundai Pharm’s abortion pill amid stalled efforts to strengthen women’s right to abortion through legislation, health ministry officials told The Korea Times.

An official at the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said it recently halted the review process for Mifegymiso, a combination drug used for medical abortion, also known as nonsurgical abortion or medication abortion. The Seoul-based drug firm is the distributor of the product in Korea.

“The review process has been temporarily suspended by mutual recognition of (Hyundai Pharmaceutical) and the ministry,” the representative added, noting that there were no other abortion drugs currently under review in Korea.

The official also said revising related criminal and health laws would be necessary to resume the process.

This revelation comes amid little progress in legislation as abortion remains in a legal gray area in the country following a 2019 Constitutional Court verdict that declared its abortion ban unconstitutional.

Earlier this year, officials at the Ministry of Health and Welfare said they would draft a bill to revise the laws — including pregnant women’s right to medical abortion — by the end of this year.

But speaking to The Korea Times, they said they have decided to change gears. Instead of drafting the ministry’s own bill, they said they would support lawmakers’ legislation efforts.

“This is an immensely complicated issue that would require the initiative from the legislative body of the government. Many in the ministry have pointed out that it would be inappropriate to provide what could be viewed as a standard,” an official said. “As there would be diverse opinions over the issue, we concluded that it would be better to support lawmakers’ efforts to draft their bills.”

The point of contention is determining how late is too late to get an abortion. In its 2020 bill submitted to the National Assembly after the Constitutional Court’s verdict, the government said abortions up until the 24th week should be permitted. It added women should be given the right to end their pregnancy up to 14 weeks in all cases and up to 24 weeks in cases of rape, severe birth defects, or health risks for the mother.

After the bill was submitted, lawmakers from the ruling and opposition parties failed to agree on questions regarding that particular issue, with some suggesting a maximum of six weeks and others calling for no restrictions at all.

Since then, there have not been any serious legislation efforts until recently, when news broke out that a woman was found to have undergone an abortion procedure to end her pregnancy at 36 weeks.

This incident reignited the debate, with some conservative ruling party lawmakers calling on their liberal counterparts to draft bills through talks and saying the issue should not be left unaddressed any longer.

Currently, a group of researchers are conducting a study on how abortion rights issues are being handled in other major countries. When the results come out later this month, the health ministry is expected to offer it to lawmakers to back up their legislation efforts.

After checking the results, Rep. Park Ju-min of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea and other members of the Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee will hold a policy forum in January, according to Park's office. However, the political turmoil after President Yoon Suk Yeol’s short-lived martial law decree may further delay legislation efforts.