South Korea: Difference between revisions

Contraceptives are completely legal in South Korea and can be purchased in a pharmacy. You can buy many birth control brands, like Mercilon, without a prescription at pharmacies (if you ask the pharmacist for it). However, some contraceptive brands may require a prescription. For example, a female backpacker said that South Korean pharmacists told her that she needed a prescription for Yasmin.

In 2012, President Pak Geun-Hye and his conservative government announced that the Korean Food & Drug Administration was considering reclassification of birth control pills, which would make the pills prescription-only. This caused public outrage and wide online discuss of the issue. Three months later, the proposal was dropped. It was decided to put the reclassification on hold for three years -- and, to this day, it seems to remain on hold. As reported in Korea Bang, "Asides from the 'woman’s right to choose' argument, one of the reasons Korean women get upset over the issue is perhaps cultural: unmarried Korean women rarely visit a gynaecologist. Even when seriously ill, a visit to a gynaecology clinic would be reluctant for fear of the disapproving stares around them. That’s not to mention the social pressure on Korean women to remain sexually naïve."<ref>[http://www.koreabang.com/2012/stories/law-on-contraceptive-pill-changes.html Law on Contraceptive Pill Changes]</ref>

In 2015, it was estimated that 78% of South Koreans use any form contraception.<ref>[http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications/pdf/family/trendsContraceptiveUse2015Report.pdf UN Report]</ref> However, only 2.8% of Korean women use the birth control pill.<ref>[http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20120607000915 Korean Herald])</ref> Many men and women also underwent the forced sterilization programs of the 1970s and 1980s.<ref>[https://thegrandnarrative.com/2012/02/16/korean-family-planning/ Learning From Korean Family Planning Advertisements of the 1960s-1980s]</ref> Condoms also appear to be more popular than oral contraceptives.