In a society where being thin is often equated with beauty and success, the pressure to achieve an ideal body shape can lead to extreme measures. South Korea, a nation already known for its slim population, is now grappling with a disturbing trend: the rising misuse of diet drugs. But here's where it gets controversial—while obesity rates remain low by global standards, the country's obsession with thinness is driving a surge in demand for weight-loss medications, even among those who don't medically need them.
SEOUL (The Korea Herald/ANN): South Korea, one of the leanest countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), is witnessing an alarming wave of diet drug misuse. This phenomenon is fueled by escalating body-image pressures and the easy availability of these medications, raising significant health concerns. And this is the part most people miss—the issue isn't just about obesity; it's about a cultural fixation on thinness that's pushing people toward potentially dangerous shortcuts.
Adding to the complexity, a new generation of oral GLP-1 medications is set to hit the South Korean market as early as 2026, promising further growth in this sector. Eli Lilly’s orforglipron, an oral GLP-1 agonist, may launch in Korea in 2026 pending approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, according to media reports from December 7. Similarly, Novo Nordisk’s 25-milligram oral semaglutide is currently under review. South Korean pharmaceutical company Hanmi Pharmaceutical is also expected to release its GLP-1 therapy, efpeglenatide, in the second half of 2026, broadening treatment options for obesity and diabetes.
Obesity has emerged as a pressing global health issue, prompting the World Health Organization to issue its first guidelines recommending GLP-1 therapies for treating obesity as a chronic, relapsing condition. While South Korea boasts one of the lowest obesity rates in the OECD under WHO standards—5.7 percent—domestic health authorities caution that obesity is on the rise. South Korea employs a stricter BMI threshold of 25 or above to define obesity, and under this criterion, the proportion of adults classified as obese has been steadily increasing.
But here’s the kicker: diet drugs, originally intended for medical purposes, are now being widely misused for aesthetic weight loss. Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy, introduced in Korea in October 2024, has already shown signs of rampant misuse. According to the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service, the drug was illegally prescribed to 69 children under 12 and 194 pregnant women as of August—both groups explicitly barred from using it. Shockingly, the data also revealed that a significant number of prescriptions were written by specialists unrelated to obesity treatment, including psychiatrists, urologists, ophthalmologists, and dentists.
Authorities further uncovered 111 cases of illegal advertising in the first half of this year, many of which promoted access to the drug without proper medical supervision. Under South Korea’s BMI 25 standard, 41.4 percent of men are classified as obese, nearly double the 23 percent of women. Yet, women accounted for 71.5 percent of all prescriptions for Wegovy and another popular injectable weight-loss drug, Saxenda, issued between 2020 and June 2025. While there are no official figures on the number of people using these drugs without medical need, anecdotal evidence suggests the problem is widespread.
Social media has amplified this issue, with experts noting that South Korea’s pursuit of thinness has intensified in the digital age. In July, the state-run Korea Health Promotion Institute issued a public advisory against what it termed “distorted body ideals” proliferating online. The warning highlighted the “bony arm” trend, where arms thin enough to reveal bone outlines are glorified as desirable. The institute linked this normalization of extreme thinness to a 39 percent increase in eating-disorder patients between 2020 and 2023.
“Trends like the ‘bony arm’ pose a direct threat to public health, especially for adolescents and women,” said institute chief Kim Heon-joo. A study by professors at Changwon National University and Soongsil University found that young women exposed to pro-anorexia content often describe a progression from desiring thinness to achieving and maintaining it, frequently reinforced by online communities. International research, including Facebook’s internal studies reported by the Wall Street Journal in 2021, has also highlighted the role of social media algorithms in exacerbating body-image issues, particularly among teenage girls.
Many experts argue that online ecosystems—filled with dieting vlogs, body transformation videos, and “bone skinny” tutorials—are perpetuating unrealistic beauty standards and driving non-obese individuals toward prescription drugs. Is this a harmless pursuit of beauty, or a dangerous slide into medical misuse? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
Even with South Korea’s low WHO-measured obesity rate, local data shows a steady rise in overweight and obesity under domestic standards. The country’s 2024 obesity rate reached 34.4 percent under the BMI 25 threshold, up from 26.3 percent in 2015. More than half of men in their 30s and 40s are now classified as obese. However, public understanding of obesity remains limited. A survey by the Korean Society for the Study of Obesity found that only 38 percent of non-medical respondents viewed obesity as a disease, compared to 90 percent of doctors. Many still believe obesity can be overcome through willpower alone.
Authorities warn that while increased access to treatment is justified for medically obese patients, casual or cosmetic use of GLP-1 drugs carries unnecessary risks. In October, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced plans to designate Wegovy, Saxenda, and other anti-obesity drugs as medications at risk of misuse or abuse. “People with normal BMI who take these medications solely for slimming purposes face heightened risks such as anemia, hair loss, and muscle loss,” cautioned family medicine professor Kang Jae-hun of Kangbuk Samsung Hospital.
So, what do you think? Is South Korea’s thinness obsession a cultural norm worth preserving, or a public health crisis in the making? Share your opinions below—we’re eager to hear your perspective.
