Korea to Merge Three Drug Safety Agencies into New Korean Pharmaceutical Safety Agency

The South Korean government announced a public institution reform plan that will reduce the number of public agencies by 109 through strategic restructuring, unifying overlapping functions, and merging subsidiaries and small institutions. As part of this reform, three drug‑related agencies under the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety— the Korean Rare Essential Medicines Center, the Korean Pharmaceutical Safety Management Agency, and the Vaccine Safety Technology Support Center—will be integrated into a single entity tentatively named the Korean Pharmaceutical Safety Agency. The new agency is expected to operate under one roof, streamlining oversight of rare essential medicines, pharmaceutical safety, and vaccine safety.