Menopause around the world: South Korea

The next in my cultural series - menopause around the world - takes me to South Korea. Join me as I explore how menopause is viewed, how women experience this transitional time of life and what support looks like.

I’ll be the first to admit that when I think of South Korea, menopause isn’t the inmediately thing that springs to mind. I think of Seoul, K-pop, K-dogs and, the one with a massively growing market, Korean skincare! I would LOVE to visit Seoul, I am equal measure confused and mesmerised by all the others!

The Contrast of old and new

South Korea has grown into country of ultra modern cities, sitting alongside centuries of rich tradition. So when it comes to menopause, is it steeped in old tradition and views or has that progressed with a modern day approach?

As I explore menopause and South Korea, I’m not suggesting that every woman will have the same experience. Far from it, as we know experiences are personal and can differ wildly wherever you live. But it gives a little glimpse into how culture can shape something that is biologically universal but experienced very differently.

What is menopause called?

I wasn’t going to include a piece on this but when I read about it, I did actually find it quite interesting so here it is! I wasn’t able to find two terms that are used, with the first being gaengnyeongi, meaning the period of transition around menopause, rather than simply describing the final menstrual period.

The other term is wan-gyeong, which is expressing the idea of menstruation being completed rather than having just stopped. And I really like this language, it feels like menopause is being described as a far more natural part of a woman’s journey. No suggestion that a woman is somehow a lesser being as she grows older, which can sadly still feel the case for some!

A little bit of history

I always think that when looking at experiences today, it can help provide context by looking back and exploring it from a historical point of view.

As with many East Asian countries, Korean society has hustorically been deeply influenced by Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism - don’t worry, I also needed to seek out a plain English explanation as part of my research! In very simple terms, it refers to ideas of family, hierarchy and gender roles.

While this was common across East Asia, in Korea - specifically during the Joseon period (1392-1910), with Neo-Confucianism becoming the official state ideology, it shaped laws, government, family life and social hierarchy more intensely than some of the other countries.

What did this mean for women? Their role within the family - as wives, mothers and carers - was central to their lives.

Just as we would find in researching the history of many cultures, South Korean society has changed significantly, and that includes the lives of its women. But that doesn’t mean that cultural expectations change overnight.

So how do modern-day Korean women feel about menopause?

I came across several studies while researching this blog post that cover quite a large period of time and this was interesting in showing how this has changed over time.

So, the first study I came across was from 2010 which had only a narrow data-set of 570 post-menopausal Korean women, focussing largely on women’s attitudes towards menopause rather than their experience. Of the 570 women surveyed, 69% viewed menopause as a natural part of aging.

Interestingly when you fast forward five years to a larger study of 2300 women, 65% perceived menopause as a disease. So quite a contradiction when looking at the 2010 and 2015 studies side by side.

But as we start to look at more recent research, it is clear that as time has moved forward, the questions being asked by researchers are changing.

From asking what women think to what they actually experience

In 2022 a large women’s health survey for sexual and reproductive health was carried out and this looked at c.1300 peri- and post-menopausal Korean women.

Importantly questions shifted away from what do you think about it to more meaningful questions focussing on the symptoms women were experiencing and what they were doing about them.

The most prevalent symptoms are no different to those we hear about from women across the globe - sleep problems, vaginal dryness, joint & muscle discomfort, physical & mental exhaustion and hot flushes! If you are reading this and, like me, are journeying through perimenopause, I am sure some of these sound familiar!

So this study started to present the broader picture of menopause in terms of the experiences of women, but what it also highlighted was that while women were aware of and could call out their symptoms, this wasn’t necessarily translating to them seeking help and support.

Around one third of the women experiencing symptoms were not doing anything to manage them, and less than 20% were texting hospital care or hormone therapy.

And that’s important as it demonstrates the significant gap between experiencing symptoms and seeking support.

Menopause, ageing and femininity

I am sure that most of you who read this blog will know that, particularly in the last year or so, South Korea has become famous internationally for its extensive skincare and beauty industry. I have recently succumbed to this with a few face masks to try out!

But with appearance and youth holding considerable cultural and social importance, what happens when menopause arrives along with its changes to skin, hair, weight and body changes?

Korean research examining menopause and women’s feelings about femininity has suggested that menopause itself isn’t necessarily responsible for women feeling that they have somehow become “less feminine”.

Instead, those feelings can be connected to a much wider combination of changing family roles, relationships, recognition from others and the physical and psychological changes happening during midlife

I think this raises a question that extends far beyond South Korea. Maybe menopause isn’t taking femininity away at all. Maybe society has simply spent far too long telling women that femininity belongs to the young.

Traditional approaches still have a place

Modern medicine in South Korea sits alongside a long tradition of Korean approaches to health.

One example is Yangsaeng, a philosophy centred on maintaining health through areas such as diet, exercise, rest, sleep and mental wellbeing. Research has associated greater practice of Yangsaeng with better adaptation to menopause.

The article I have linked to is not necessarily focused on South Korea but I thought it was interesting in perms of a less medically focused piece on Yangsaeng (some of the medical journal entries are full of jargon I struggle to make sense of!).

Adoptining traditional approaches doesn't mean it should replace medical treatment, but I find the emphasis on looking after the whole person interesting. Perhaps traditional and modern thinking aren't always quite as far apart as we imagine.

What about HRT?

Menopausal Hormone Therapy (MHT – what we're more likely to call HRT in the UK) is available in South Korea, but uptake has historically been relatively low.

In 2015, 66.8% of women surveyed knew hormone therapy was available, yet only 19.7% had visited a clinic for it. Concerns about side effects and cancer were among the reasons women felt negatively about treatment.

More recent research suggests a treatment gap remains. A nationwide study published in 2025, using health insurance data from 2015–2020, found only around 9% of women aged 40–59 visited hospital for menopausal symptoms, and fewer than half of those were prescribed MHT.

There are, however, signs of change. Research published in 2026 found that lifetime MHT use among postmenopausal Korean women increased from 13.8% in 2005 to 17.5% in 2024.

It's not a huge shift, but it is a shift.

Is menopause support changing?

There are encouraging signs.

The Korean Society of Menopause updated its Menopausal Hormone Therapy Guidelines in 2025, reflecting the evolving evidence around menopause treatment.

But what struck me most while researching South Korea was how the research conversation itself seems to have changed. Earlier studies asked women what they thought about menopause and HRT. More recent studies are asking what women are experiencing – their symptoms, sleep, exhaustion, burnout and whether they're actually receiving help.

And that's an important change.

What appears less developed is the highly visible public, workplace and community menopause support we're beginning to see in some other countries. Medical treatment may be available, but that doesn't necessarily mean women feel informed, supported or comfortable asking for it.

So, is South Korea changing?

I think the answer is yes – but gradually.

We can't directly compare every study because they asked different questions of different groups of women. But we can see the conversation broadening.

Menopause is increasingly being considered not simply as something women think about or accept as part of ageing, but as something that can affect sleep, physical health, emotional wellbeing, work and everyday life.

And once again, my trip around the menopause world has reminded me of something important.

Menopause may be biological, but how we experience it is also incredibly cultural.

For South Korean women, perhaps progress isn't simply about having treatments available. It's also about women being heard, understanding their choices and feeling able to seek support when they need it.

And surely that's something women everywhere deserve.