In 2022, South Korea’s at-the-time presidential candidate Lee Jae Myung first brought up the idea of health insurance covering hair loss treatments for the country’s 10 million balding residents. Equivalent to 20 percent of South Korea’s population. At the time, it was widely covered by the global media and I also mentioned it on this blog.

President Lee Jae Myung wants Health Insurance to Cover Hair Loss Treatments

In June 2025, Mr. Lee Jae Myung became the President of South Korea. And in December 2025, he is back again making global headlines due to pushing for public health insurance to cover the cost of hair loss treatments. He argues that:

“Baldness has become a “matter of survival” rather than a cosmetic concern for young people.”

Interestingly, the 62-year old President has a decent “well-coiffed” head of hair for his age. So I am surprised that he empathizes with people who suffer from hair loss. Even world leaders who tackled their own hair loss for decades (e.g., Donald Trump and Silvio Berlusconi) never cared about other hair loss sufferers.

South Korean media has also covered this story widely, with medical professionals and ministers voicing concern and skepticism. But hair loss sufferers in the country have left numerous positive comments in online social media platforms.

South Korea’s World Leadership in Hair Loss Treatments

Since I first started writing this blog in 2013, South Korea has been the second most covered country after the US when it comes to the development of new hair loss treatments. The country is among the world leaders when it comes to advances in stem cell based hair loss treatments, exosomes, hair multiplication, allogeneic hair transplants and more.

And along with Japan, South Korea is the only other country in the world where oral dutasteride has been approved to treat hair loss. Of special note, South Korea is the only country in the world where finasteride injections and dutasteride injections to treat hair loss are both currently in clinical trials.

South Korea is also among the world leaders in cosmetic surgery. The country (especially its Gangnam District) is said to be the plastic surgery capital of the world. And balding is far less common in East Asians than in Caucasians, so a young person with thinning hair really stand outs in South Korea. It should be noted, however, that balding rates seem to be increasing rapidly in younger Asians.

Even if the deficit-ridden health insurance system in South Korea does start covering hair loss treatments, I really doubt they will cover the cost of expensive hair transplant procedures. That would open a Pandora’s Box when it comes to covering numerous other cosmetic treatments ranging from nose jobs to height increase surgeries to weight loss procedures. I do think that they may cover laser hair growth devices and PRP treatments if this development comes to pass.