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President Lee orders officials to review ways to make sanitary pads free

Published: 20 Jan. 2026, 20:01

President Lee Jae Myung chairs a Cabinet meeting at the main building of the Blue House in central Seoul on Jan. 20. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

President Lee Jae Myung ordered officials to review ways to produce low-cost sanitary pads through contract manufacturing and provide them free of charge, criticizing what he described as the product's excessive price in Korea.

“Is it true that sanitary pads in Korea are about 40 percent more expensive than [those] abroad?” Lee said during a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office at the Blue House on Tuesday. “Shouldn’t we make and sell cheaper ones so people with less money can use them too?”

“There's an argument that they're expensive because they've been 'premiumized.' Then why aren't cheaper ones being produced?” Lee said. “People should be able to use products that meet basic quality standards, but right now the burden is too heavy [on consumers], and if the government provides support, it ends up just paying for [businesses'] price gouging, to put it bluntly.”

“I am considering ways to make very basic sanitary pads with the necessary quality at a low price and provide them free of charge,” he continued, adding that he had instructed relevant ministries to look into the issue.

“Manufacturers should stop [price gouging] in the name of premium products and give consumers the option to buy lower-priced standard pads. From what I can see, there basically aren’t any.

“The state should step in if this continues. Instead of [the government] just [spending] money, let’s provide sanitary pads.”

Lillian sanitary pads are seen in a cart at a supermarket in Seoul on Aug. 23, 2017. [NEWS1]

Lee previously raised concerns over sanitary pad prices during a ministry briefing on Dec. 19, 2025, saying he had heard many people were buying products overseas because domestic pads were too expensive. He also suggested Korean companies might be reaping excessive profits by leveraging a near-monopoly position.

Lee also asked the Fair Trade Commission to look into the issue during a separate briefing. The commission has been conducting on-site inspections at the headquarters of major sanitary pad makers — including Yuhan-Kimberly, LG Unicharm and Kleannara — since Dec. 23 last year.

A report by the Korean Women’s Environmental Network found that Korean disposable sanitary pads were more expensive than overseas products in all sizes except large pads in a 2023 price survey. The average price per pad across all sizes was 195.56 won ($0.13) higher for domestic products than for overseas ones, according to the report.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY HYEON YE-SEUL [[email protected]]