President Lee, Gender Equality and Family Ministry Briefing on the 19th
"Sanitary Pads Are Too Expensive, Domestic Companies Seem Excessive"
President Lee Jae-myung is speaking at the Ministry of Justice (Supreme Prosecutors' Office) and Ministry of Gender Equality and Family briefing held at the Seoul Government Complex Annex on the 19th. Photo by Yonhap News
On December 19, President Lee Jaemyung criticized domestic sanitary pad prices, questioning, "Aren't companies exploiting their monopolistic positions to make excessive profits?"
That afternoon, during a work briefing from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family at the Seoul Government Complex in Jongno-gu, Seoul, President Lee stated, "It seems domestic companies are going too far," expressing his concerns.
President Lee asked, "Why are domestically produced sanitary pads so expensive? I heard they are 39% more expensive than those in other countries. Are you aware of this?" He further raised the issue, saying, "Because domestic products are so expensive, many people are turning to overseas direct purchases."
In response, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family explained that "while value-added tax is exempted at the initial manufacturing stage, it is added during distribution." However, President Lee questioned, "Don't other countries have such taxes? It sounds like you are saying the tax system is unfavorable, but I don't think that's actually the case," reiterating his skepticism.
President Lee emphasized, "If the sales price of sanitary pads is excessively high compared to production costs, perhaps we should allow imports without tariffs to create real competition. If individuals are going so far as to buy directly from overseas, it means the prices are unfairly set."
He added, "Moreover, it is strange that this is happening even though taxes are exempted domestically. It seems there is a problem."
Earlier, during a work briefing from the Fair Trade Commission held just before, President Lee also pointed out that sanitary pad prices in Korea are particularly high and instructed an investigation.
President Lee asked Fair Trade Commission Chairman Joo Byungki, "I heard sanitary pads are that expensive in our country, is that true?" and then remarked, "You probably haven't investigated it yet."
When Chairman Joo replied, "We haven't investigated it. We will look into it," President Lee requested, "I would appreciate it if you could conduct an investigation. I don't know why they are so expensive."
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