Regulatory Updates

South Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare unveiled a four‑year, stepwise drug price ceiling re‑evaluation plan that includes extra 20% cuts for non‑compliant drugs and a safeguard against lowering already low prices.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare issued detailed guidelines on drug price ceiling re‑evaluation, setting distinct adjustment rates and grace periods for innovative and semi‑innovative pharmaceuticals.

Guro‑gu Pharmaceutical Association is gathering reports of inappropriate telemedicine prescriptions from pharmacies ahead of the Dec 24 rollout to aid system improvement.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare issued a notice on Aug 26 prohibiting the creation of private qualifications that use titles such as “pharmacist,” “herbal pharmacist,” “pharmacy coordinator,” or “pharmacy administrator,” to prevent public confusion.

Pharmacists' group 약준모 will protest on Sep 13 in front of the Blue House, opposing the government's plan to broaden home delivery of prescription drugs for telemedicine patients.

Over 2.26 million Koreans who surpassed their personal medical expense caps in 2024 will receive a total of 3.76 trillion won in refunds starting Aug 31, 2025.

The Seoul Pharmacists Association will hold an emergency general meeting on Sept 5 to discuss expanding drug delivery for telemedicine, safety‑stock medicine changes, and the rise of warehouse pharmacies.

A joint inspection by South Korea’s MFDS and local governments uncovered 30 import stalls illegally selling overseas OTC and psychotropic medicines in traditional markets.

The Korean government postponed the price reduction for high‑priority listed medicines to April 2025, while confirming September 1 2024 as the reference date for calculating new prices.

The Guro‑gu Pharmaceutical Association criticized the government’s plan to broadly expand prescription drug delivery for telemedicine patients, urging adherence to existing principles and pharmacist oversight.

The Legislative Research Service highlighted inadequate monitoring of narcotic prescriptions via telemedicine as a 2026 National Audit issue, urging real‑time oversight.

HIRA named Prof. Oh Joo-hwan of Seoul National University College of Medicine as director of its Policy Research Institute, effective Sept 1, 2026, highlighting his academic and research experience.