Period care in South Korea

In South Korea, a period pad is not an ordinary product. The law places it in a category called “quasi-drugs”. In 2017, reports about chemicals in period pads led to national tests, a new labelling rule and a long public conversation. That conversation also covered price, poverty, work and stigma. This Column reports it; it does not rank any format or name any product.

A different category

South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) regulates period pads, tampons and menstrual cups as quasi-drugs: 의약외품, ui-yak-oe-pum. MFDS tells buyers to look for the “의약외품” mark on the pack, and to check that the product is approved or notified with MFDS. (our translation)

Researchers who compared the rules put it this way: period products “are categorized as quasi-drugs in Korea, general products in the EU, and medical devices in US”. MFDS’s own comparison table goes further. It lists period pads as quasi-drugs in Korea and Japan, medical devices in the US, and general products in Europe, Canada and China. (our translation)

Korea’s ingredient rule and its enforcement, below, sit under the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act (약사법).

The category also covers period underwear. MFDS describes period pads as products fixed to clothing or worn directly, disposable or reusable. (our translation) A Korean health publication reports that period underwear counts as a kind of period pad, so it needs quasi-drug approval before it can be sold as 생리팬티 (“period underwear”). (our translation) The first approval is reported as July 2019. Underwear sold without approval appears under other names, such as “sanitary panties”. In a 2023 online check, MFDS flagged 41 ads that made such general goods look like approved reusable period pads.

Summer 2017: the period pad scare and the tests

In March 2017, a women’s environmental civic group reported tests of 10 disposable period pads and liners. It said it found volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in all of them. In August, online reports spread of changed cycles and worse pain after using one low-priced brand. Thousands of women came forward, and retailers pulled the brand.

A note on words: the sources we cite say “women”, “female workers”, “female youths” and “sanitary pads”. We keep their words so we report them accurately. In our own words, we say “period pads”. The Reading Room is for everyone who menstruates.

Before the scare, MFDS checked period pads for nine chemicals, such as formaldehyde and fluorescent brighteners. VOCs were not on the list. The Korea Herald reported in 2017 that “VOCs are not regulated in other countries either.”

MFDS then tested 666 period pad and panty liner products made or imported since 2014. It looked first for 10 priority VOCs, in September 2017, then for 74 more, 84 in all, in December. Of those 74, 24 were not found. The other 50 were found at levels the ministry called “not harmful to the human body”. The ministry also tested high-selling period pads and tampons for 14 pesticides, 3 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and acrylic acid. It found no pesticides or PAHs, and it reported a safe margin for acrylic acid.

MFDS kept testing. It assessed VOCs and phthalates in 2018, dioxins in 2019 and PCBs in 2020. Each time, it concluded the levels were not harmful. It set a guideline for reducing VOCs in manufacturing, and a standing council with manufacturers for regular VOC monitoring. A peer-reviewed risk assessment, co-authored by scientists at the regulator, concluded that “evidence indicates” the risks from the VOCs detected in period pads “currently used in South Korea do not pose an adverse health risk in women”.

Not everyone agreed. The civic group called the first government release “premature”, and said its own test had been “a pre-emptive study”, not a cause-and-effect one. In 2020, a member of the National Assembly reanalysed the 2017 data. He reported that 97.2% of products had at least one of 10 VOCs he described as carcinogens detected. His figure counts detections, not risk levels, and the regulator’s conclusion did not change.

A separate government study surveyed about 16,000 women (2018–2019) and followed about 2,600 who kept period diaries for 10 months (2019–2021). It found that a link between estimated VOC exposure and self-reported symptoms, such as period pain and vulvar irritation, “cannot be ruled out”. It did not show cause and effect. Health check-ups of 60 volunteers found nothing specific. Both ministries said this “does not mean current pad use is harmful”. (our translation) The study notes its own limits: exposure was estimated, not measured in bodies, and symptoms can have many causes.

Every ingredient on the pack

After 2017, women’s groups called for every ingredient to be disclosed. Since 1 October 2018, period pads and other “paper-type” quasi-drugs must list the names of all ingredients in their licence or notification on the pack. The rule came in as an amendment to the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act. (our translation)

This habit was familiar from beauty shopping. Korea began requiring cosmetics to list every ingredient in 2008, with some exceptions, and one ingredient-analysis app had more than 3.5 million users by 2016.

The rule has been enforced. In 2020, MFDS referred an importer to prosecutors on suspicion of declaring a plant-based adhesive while using a synthetic one, and of advertising a period pad as free of all chemicals. (our translation) The company said the adhesive was safe and that it had removed the ad. In 2023, MFDS found 31 online ads claiming that approved period products relieve period pain and similar effects. Its ad-verification panel said such effects from “using a pad alone” are “not objectively confirmed”. (our translation)

What people in Korea use

Surveys agree that disposable period pads are by far the most used. An MFDS survey released in May 2017 found 81% used period pads, 11% tampons and 1.4% cups, while 41% had heard of cups. A government panel from 2019 to 2021 found disposable period pads about 90.3%, reusable (cloth) period pads 4.2%, tampons 3.6% and cups 1.8%.

In the Reading Room’s fixed order:

Period pads & liners. After 2017, makers launched organic and all-cotton period pads. A 2023 civic-group study found organic period pads cost about 27% more on average, and that period pad ads carried an average of 3.36 certification marks. In March 2026, MFDS fast-tracked approval of new “value” period pads made mainly from lower-cost non-woven fabric. MFDS’s 2025 guidance tells buyers to change disposable period pads every 2 to 3 hours, even if flow is light. (our translation)

Tampons. Quasi-drugs, labelled junior, regular, super and super plus. MFDS says to use one for no longer than 8 hours, and its guidance warns about toxic shock syndrome (TSS). (our translation)

Cups. Before December 2017, no cup could be sold in Korea. In May 2017, the Korea Herald wrote that cups “are banned from the market, as their safety and efficacy have yet to be verified”. MFDS approved the first cup, a US-made one, in December 2017. Its review covered “cytotoxicity, skin irritation, durability, purity, and presence of heavy metals” and a screen for “10 highly hazardous volatile organic compounds”. MFDS’s advice has changed: in 2017 it said cups “may be used for up to 12 hours, depending on the level of blood flow or physical activity”; in 2025 and 2026 it says 4 to 6 hours per use, with heat disinfection, no sharing, no use with a silicone allergy, and a TSS warning for long wear. (our translation)

Discs. Approved as a “disc-type menstrual cup” quasi-drug. A start-up says it received the first such approval, in 2021. (our translation)

Period underwear. Must be approved as a kind of period pad to be sold as period underwear (see above).

Reusable period pads. Cloth period pads are a long-standing choice for a small share of people (4.2% to 4.5% in surveys). MFDS’s washing advice: no chlorine bleach, and heavy hand-washing can damage the waterproof layer. (our translation)

Comfort & care. Korean shops sell a “Y-zone” category: feminine washes, wipes and “intimate skincare”. One large health-and-beauty chain’s feminine-wash sales rose 67% in 2024. A business daily reports that more buyers choose these “by ingredient and function, like face cosmetics”. (our translation)

These change times are MFDS’s advice for Korean buyers, with their dates. Canadian sources give their own times, in each format’s explainer. This Column does not compare them.

• Two words, one product.

  Korean regulators say 생리대 (saengridae). English-language Korean newspapers usually translate it “sanitary pad”.

• Before cups were approved.

  In one week of August 2017, cup sales on one overseas-shopping site rose 470%, the Korea Herald reported.

• Beauty aisle, period aisle.

  One health-and-beauty chain’s women’s-wellness range grew from about 3,700 products to about 18,000 in three years. (our translation)

Insoles, vouchers and free dispensers

In May 2016, the largest period pad maker announced a price rise. Soon after, stories spread online of low-income girls using shoe insoles, toilet paper or towels because they could not afford period pads. Korean media called it the “insole pad” (깔창 생리대) story. (our translation)

The government answered with emergency funding in 2016. In 2017, the Youth Welfare Support Act said the state “may support”. In April 2021, an amendment changed that to “shall support”, in force from April 2022. (our translation) Support for low-income “female youths” aged 9 to 24, the program’s term, is now a voucher of 14,000 won a month, or up to 168,000 won a year. (our translation)

Seoul began free period pad dispensers at 10 public buildings in October 2018. In July 2026, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family opened a national pilot of free “public period pads” in 12 municipalities. It is open to anyone who needs a period pad. Dispensers sit in about 500 public facilities, such as community centres, libraries and youth facilities. Each gives one pack of two medium period pads. The ministry plans to expand the program nationwide in 2027. (our translation)

Price is still debated. A 2023 civic-group study, which the Korea Herald notes is not official data, found period pads in Korea about 39% more expensive on average than in 11 other places. The official consumer price index for period pads rose 20.91% from 2020 to 2024, against 14.18% for all prices. On 19 December 2025, at a briefing from the Fair Trade Commission, South Korea’s competition regulator, the president asked it to look into why period pads cost so much. (our translation) From 23 December 2025, the commission inspected the three largest period pad makers. On 20 January 2026, the president told the Cabinet to consider low-cost period pads made to basic quality standards, and free supply for some people. (our translation)

Periodica does not run or fund any of these programs.

A day off, unpaid

Korea’s Labor Standards Act, article 73, says: “An employer shall grant one day of menstrual leave per month when a female worker requests it.” (our translation) The leave is unpaid. An employer who refuses can be fined up to 5 million won. A labour newspaper reports that the leave was paid until 2004, when it became unpaid and on request with the five-day working week.

In 2021, the Supreme Court upheld a fine on a former airline chief who refused 138 requests from flight attendants. The lower court said demanding proof of menstruation can “infringe upon privacy and human rights”. Use is low: in a 2018 survey, 19.7% of women at assistant-manager level or above had taken it.

Where K-pop comes in

In ads. Period pad makers have used male celebrities as “boyfriend” figures in ads. In 2017, a national daily reported that the boy group ASTRO had become the ad model for a period pad brand. A Sejong University student newsroom criticised such ads, and the soft phrases they use for a period, such as 그날, “that day”. (our translation)

In idols’ own words. In 2024, a former K-pop idol answered fans on TikTok. She said idols handle periods the same way as everyone, with backup clothes or by asking stylists to avoid white. That is her own account.

In one book. A 2025 book on the idol industry, K-pop, Idols in Wonderland by journalist Jeon Da-hyeon, quotes an agency insider who claims that “eight out of 10 female trainees stop menstruating” (as machine-translated from Korean for the Korea Times), citing extreme diet controls. This is one insider’s claim, reported in a book. It is not a measured rate.

What people in Korea say they still need

Korean reporting and research return to the same needs.

Information. In the government study, 51.2% said information on period products was lacking. In one small survey, 98.8% wanted education on period products.

Access. In a 2024 civic-group survey, 38.5% of those who needed support but did not get it did not know they were eligible. A teen told a newspaper she sometimes buys smaller period pads because larger and overnight ones cost more. (our translation)

Dignity. Reported stigma includes black bags at the checkout and a councillor’s call to rename the product.

Time at work. Women describe taking menstrual leave as a risk to their reputation.

What this is not

This Column reports what South Korea’s regulator, researchers and newspapers say, dated, in their own words. It did not test any product. It does not say that Korean or Canadian products, or rules, are safer or better, and it does not rank any format. MFDS’s advice is for Korean buyers; it is reported here, not recommended. A Korean approval is not a Health Canada licence. Translations from Korean are ours and are marked.