South Korea is dealing with a national health crisis: male pattern baldness.
Driving the news: South Korean President Lee Jae Myung suggested that the government explore expanding national health insurance to cover cosmetic hair loss treatments, calling the issue of baldness a “matter of survival” that’s eroding young people’s confidence.
Currently, South Korea’s universal healthcare scheme only covers hair loss treatments for ailments like alopecia; Lee has been vocal about expanding coverage in the past.
Medical professionals and rival politicians criticized Lee’s request, calling it both a frivolous expense the country’s insurance scheme can’t afford and a blatant grab for votes.
Big picture: Baldness is a major stigma in South Korea among young people. An estimated 40% of people who visited hospitals for hair loss in 2024 were in their 20s or 30s, per health authorities. Shame around hair loss is one facet of the nation’s notorious beauty standards.
Outside of hair loss, the majority of this beauty burden falls on women. An estimated one in three South Korean women aged 19 to 29 have had plastic surgery.
Why it matters: Lee’s claim may be a tad hyperbolic, but it’s not totally off-base. Increased access to skincare products, weight-loss drugs, and minor cosmetic surgery procedures has created heightened societal expectations around looks, even outside beauty-obsessed South Korea.
Not meeting superficial expectations has career consequences. As a recent viral Business Insider article put it, “being hot is now a job requirement” for some gigs.
Our take: If getting plugs materially improves people’s quality of life, there’s an argument for expanding coverage, particularly in a place where baldness is accompanied by major professional and personal disadvantages. Doing so is sadly easier than dismantling systemic beauty norms.—QH