President Lee Jae-myung on the 19th said sanitary pad prices are set higher than in other countries and ordered an investigation into suspected price collusion in the market, while also saying Korea should consider allowing duty-free competition for imports.
At a briefing on the Fair Trade Commission's work held at Government Complex Seoul that day, Lee said, "They say sanitary pads in Korea are on average more expensive than in other countries. I don't think an investigation has been done."
When Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Ju Biung-ghi answered, "We haven't," Lee said, "Whether it's because of monopoly or oligopoly, they say it's about 39% more expensive than in other countries. I don't know why it's so expensive. There must be a reason."
Lee then asked again during the subsequent Ministry of Gender Equality and Family work briefing, "Do you know why sanitary pads are expensive?"
In response, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family explained that "a few companies have high market shares, there are many eco-friendly organic products, and while sales are exempt from value-added taxes, VAT is added at the manufacturing and distribution stages."
After repeatedly asking, "Can you buy a month's supply of sanitary pads for a little over ten thousand won?" Lee said, "If the retail price is excessively high compared with production costs, I'm thinking we could allow duty-free imports to create real competition."
Lee added, "If individuals are doing a lot of direct overseas purchases, that means (domestic products) are being priced unfairly," and said, "It's strange, given that (domestically) taxes are also exempted. It looks like there's a problem."
Lee also showed interest in a "sanitary pad support policy" when running for president in the past. During the 2022 presidential election, he pledged to expand nationwide the "universal support policy for menstrual products for female adolescents," based on policies he implemented as Seongnam mayor and Gyeonggi governor. Following his directive to expand health insurance coverage for hair loss treatments, he appears to be following through on the livelihood pledges from the last presidential race.