Korea health committee opens 2026 audit on pensions, mifepristone, emergency care

The National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee began its 2026 audit of the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on October 7, according to Chosun Ilbo and Asia Economy. Newsis reported the same day that the audit would cover pensions, mifepristone, emergency rooms and national university hospitals. Chosun Ilbo said the sessions run until a comprehensive audit on October 27. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]

Asia Economy reported that the government’s basic pension overhaul, announced last month, is expected to draw intense questioning. The plan would pay an additional 30,000 won a month to the bottom 30% of elderly people by income, but omits the previously flagged adjustment of eligibility criteria at the upper end. Criticism from both the opposition and the ruling party that the plan is a “half” reform without a long-term roadmap was reported by Asia Economy. [ 3 ]

On the national pension, Asia Economy reported that the fund’s fiscal stability and sustainability, a deferral of rebalancing and investment losses from a stock market fall are to be examined, along with the effectiveness of a first pension premium support programme for young people starting next year. The National Pension Service audit is set for October 14, it said. On health insurance, it reported that the 2027 premium rate was frozen at 7.19%, the same as this year, with the fund’s move into deficit likely to prompt questions about whether the freeze is appropriate, at an October 16 session of the National Health Insurance Service and the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. [ 3 ]

Nine regional national university hospitals, including those in Busan, Gangwon and Chungbuk, were moved from the Education Ministry to the Health and Welfare Ministry in August and will be reviewed on October 8, Asia Economy reported. It said the audit would look at their role as bases for regional essential medical care as well as staffing shortages and financial difficulties, along with follow-up work on the emergency patient transfer system after the passage of the so-called emergency room ping-pong prevention law and the ministry’s response to medical sector backlash over a police search of a paediatric emergency room. [ 3 ]

Pharmaceutical issues are also on the agenda. Asia Economy reported that the government is pushing to introduce mifepristone in the first quarter of next year, with its safety management and the role of medical staff in question. It said Lee Sang-jun, CEO of Hyundai Pharm, which holds exclusive domestic rights to the drug, will appear as a reference witness at the Food and Drug Safety Ministry audit on October 13, while Kim Jae-yeon, head of the Korean Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Lee Jae-gwan, head of the Korean Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, will speak to the medical field’s view at the October 27 comprehensive audit. [ 3 ]

On telemedicine, Asia Economy reported that how far drug delivery should be extended is contested ahead of the institutionalisation of remote treatment: platform companies argue for broader patient access, while the pharmacists’ association cites medicine misuse, safety management and damage to the local pharmacy ecosystem. It said the dispute over “warehouse pharmacies” in large distribution facilities would also be taken up, with DoctorNow CEO Jung Jin-woong and Korean Pharmacists Association president Kwon Young-hee appearing as witnesses on October 8. Other items listed by Asia Economy include the regional doctor system, nurse “burnout”, medical accidents and patient safety, and the operation of integrated care. [ 3 ]