Members of women's groups hold a performance at a square in Seoul in this September photo, to call for the abolishment of a law that punishes women who have abortions. Korea Times file



By Jung Hae-myoung



Around 20 percent of Korean women who get pregnant have abortions, according to a government survey, Thursday.



The Korea Institute of Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA) announced the result of the survey, which it conducted on behalf of the Ministry of Health and Welfare on 10,000 women aged between 15 and 44 online from September to October.



It was the third government survey on abortion, an illegal practice here ― except in certain life-threatening circumstances and in the cases of rape and incest ― but widely conducted secretly. Previous surveys were conducted in 2005 and 2010.



Among the 10,000 respondents, about 38 percent, or 3,792 women, had got pregnant at least once, and 19.9 percent of them, or 756, had an abortion, according to the survey.



At the time of the abortion, 46.9 percent were unmarried, 37.9 percent were married, and 13 percent were living with their partners out of wedlock.



For the reason of abortion, 33.4 percent said because they would face problems in study or work, 32.9 percent said they could not raise a child due to financial difficulties, and 31.2 percent said they did not want a child, with multiple replies allowed.



Most of the women, 90.2 percent, underwent a surgical procedure, while the remainder used drugs.



Based on the survey, the KIHASA estimated the number of abortions performed in 2017 at 50,000, meaning 4.8 percent out of 1,000 women. It said the number of abortions has been showing a downturn, compared to figures in previous surveys, 342,000 in 2005 and168,000 in 2010.



However, the figures are far lower than the estimate by the Korean Association of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (KAOG), which said its members performed more than 1 million abortions in 2017.



The doctors suspect the huge gap in numbers between the government records and the medical field comes from the fact that abortion is still illegal in Korea and thus many women try to conceal their experience. According to the relevant law, a woman who has an abortion can be imprisoned for up to one year or fined 2 million won ($1,778), and a doctor who performs an abortion, up to two years in jail.



The survey also asked for opinions on legalizing abortion as well as government's responsibility in the matter.



Seventy-five percent of the 10,000 women said the law needed revising, saying it was unfair to punish only women while leaving the male partners without any responsibility, that women were exposed to unsafe abortion procedures because it is currently illegal, and it was an individual's choice whether to have a baby or not.



Regarding government policies to prevent and reduce the number of abortions, the respondents said both men and women should take responsibility for contraception, pregnancy and childbirth, as well as strengthen sex education to prevent unwanted pregnancies.



Medical and women's groups argue abortion should be legalized, saying it is unreasonable for women and gynecologists to take responsibility for unwanted pregnancies.



The survey results are expected to influence the ongoing Constitutional Court deliberation on the constitutionality of the laws on abortion. The court is expected to make a decision within the year ― in 2012, it ruled the laws were constitutional.

