The National Federation of Press Organizations (NFPO) (President Lee Chi-soo, currently President of the World Press Association (WPA) and Honorary President of the Korea Internet Newspaper Association) announced on August 30 that it had issued a statement titled, “Government Must Immediately Halt Push for Full-Scale Expansion of ‘Prescription Drug Delivery’ That Undermines Social Consensus.”
The National Federation of Press Organizations (NFPO), an alliance of more than 50 press organizations nationwide affiliated with the World Press Association, a media organization under the World Federation of Power Leaders (WFPL) (President Lee San-ha), stated in the statement, “Seeking to expand prescription drug delivery to all patients receiving non-face-to-face medical care even before the law takes effect undermines the hard-won social consensus.”
It continued, “Pharmaceutical policy must place public health and medication safety—not the platform industry—at its center,” and emphasized, “We strongly warn against policy changes that, under the banner of public health, favor the market entry and business expansion of particular companies or ultimately result in preferential treatment for particular companies.”
It also stated, “The life and safety of the people must not be determined by the number of seats held in the National Assembly,” and urged, “Rather than first opening the way for the full-scale expansion of prescription drug delivery, the government and the National Assembly must first implement the system scheduled to take effect this December and thoroughly verify its safety and effectiveness.”
The full text of the National Federation of Press Organizations (NFPO) statement follows.
STATEMENT
Government Must Immediately Halt Push for Full-Scale Expansion of ‘Prescription Drug Delivery’ That Undermines Social Consensus
The government is seeking to expand prescription drug delivery to all patients receiving non-face-to-face medical care ahead of the implementation of the non-face-to-face medical care system on December 24.
The National Assembly, the government, and the healthcare community established the system after extensive deliberation and coordination. Seeking once again to fully expand prescription drug delivery before the system has even been implemented once would undermine the hard-won social consensus.
During the process of institutionalizing non-face-to-face medical care, eligibility for home receipt of prescription drugs was limited to residents of islands and remote areas, long-term care beneficiaries, persons with disabilities, patients with infectious diseases, and patients with rare diseases. These limitations constitute minimum safeguards to prevent the misuse and abuse of medicines and protect public safety.
Why, then, is the government seeking to expand prescription drug delivery to all patients receiving non-face-to-face medical care even before the law takes effect?
Accordingly, the National Federation of Press Organizations (NFPO), in fulfillment of the media’s public responsibility to protect the people’s rights to health and life, expresses serious concern over the government’s push for the full-scale expansion of prescription drug delivery and calls for its immediate halt.
Medicines are not ordinary consumer goods.
Ordinary goods that are delivered incorrectly can be returned or exchanged, but if a patient takes medicine that has been delivered incorrectly, the consequences can be irreversible. Prescription drug delivery may involve issues directly affecting public safety, including misdelivery, medication errors, loss, theft, deterioration, verification of receipt by the intended patient, and medication counseling.
In particular, platform-based prescription drug delivery introduces multiple parties, including platforms and delivery service providers, between medical institutions and pharmacies. This makes the process of delivering and taking medicines more complex and raises concerns that responsibility may become unclear when an incident occurs.
Pharmaceutical policy must place public health and medication safety—not the platform industry—at its center.
Policies governing the dispensing, medication counseling, and delivery of medicines must not be determined on the basis of industrial convenience or the growth potential of platform companies. The professional judgment of the pharmacy community and its representative organizations, which have safeguarded public health based on specialized expertise in medicines, must be fully reflected in the policymaking process.
The government must not decide on the expansion of prescription drug delivery first and establish safeguards only afterward. If policy is redirected toward creating a new market for prescription drug delivery and bringing platform companies into that market, industrial interests could take precedence over public health.
The National Federation of Press Organizations (NFPO) strongly warns against policies that, under the banner of public health, favor the market entry and business expansion of particular companies or ultimately result in preferential treatment for particular companies.
The healthcare system must not be reorganized solely on the basis of convenience and industrial considerations. In-person medical care must remain the principle, while non-face-to-face medical care should serve as a means of supplementing public access to healthcare. If prescription drug delivery is fully incorporated into this system, the entire process of medical consultation, prescribing, dispensing, and medicine delivery could become platform-centered, raising concerns that platform companies could gain excessive influence over people’s use of healthcare services and their access to medicines.
Prescribing, dispensing, and the delivery of medicines are part of the public sphere dedicated to protecting public health. The people’s health information and access to medicines must never be used as tools to create new markets and generate profits for particular companies.
The National Assembly also bears a grave responsibility.
Amending the law to allow the full-scale expansion of prescription drug delivery does not in itself guarantee the safety or legitimacy of such a policy. The legislative authority of the National Assembly must be exercised to protect the life and safety of the people, not to expand markets for particular industries or businesses.
The life and safety of the people must not be determined by the number of seats held in the National Assembly.
Healthcare policies directly affecting the life and health of the people must undergo sufficient verification and public deliberation. What the government and the National Assembly must do is not first open the way for the full-scale expansion of prescription drug delivery, but first implement the system scheduled to take effect this December and verify its safety and effectiveness.
What is needed now is not “expansion,” but “verification.”
Accordingly, the National Federation of Press Organizations (NFPO) strongly urges the government and the National Assembly to implement the following four measures:
First, establish a safe system for the delivery of medicines centered on representative organizations of pharmacists that possess professional expertise in medicines and are responsible for public health.
Second, immediately halt the push for the full-scale expansion of prescription drug delivery without social consensus and safety verification.
Third, the government must first implement the system scheduled to take effect this December and thoroughly verify its safety and effectiveness.
Fourth, the National Assembly must guard against legislation that favors the market expansion of particular companies or platforms and establish legislative principles that place the lives of the people and medication safety above all else.
August 30, 2026
National Federation of Press Organizations (NFPO)
