President Lee Jae-myung said women's health and safety must come first as the government moves to introduce the abortion pill mifepristone, known in Korea as Mifegyne.
Writing on X, formerly Twitter, on the 17th, Lee said women have long been unable to obtain safe abortion pills and have had to rely on overseas online purchases or illegal transactions, taking on risks in the process.
He also noted that seven years have passed since the Constitutional Court ruled that the country's abortion ban was unconstitutional. "Even while you are fixing a leaking ceiling, the floor gets wet," Lee said, adding that it is a better decision to start with what can be done now rather than wait for a perfect set of measures. That, he said, was also the reason for the decision to introduce abortion pills in phases.
He said, however, that safety oversight and the gathering of views from medical providers would proceed alongside the rollout. "We will closely examine the safety management system during the introduction process and listen fully to voices from the medical field," Lee said.
