Lee Jae-myung's 'Hair Loss Pledge' Directly Criticized by Yoon Hee-sook: "Is This Hair-pulism?"

"Health Insurance Benefit Recipients Should Prioritize Principles and Consensus"
"How Is This Candidate Any Different from the Chavez Regime?" Criticism

Former People Power Party lawmaker Yoon Hee-sook / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Former People Power Party lawmaker Yoon Heesook directly criticized Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, for considering the pledge to include hair loss treatment drugs under health insurance coverage, calling it "Teol-pulism (Teol + populism)."

On the 6th, Yoon wrote on her Facebook, "Lee Jae-myung's pledge to include hair loss medication and hair transplantation under health insurance coverage is controversial. The reactions are heated not only among people suffering from hair loss but also among political commentators in Yeouido," adding, "It is a clever pledge aimed at gathering votes."

She continued, "Let's approach this seriously. The candidate, whom I call Jaebes (Jae-myung + Chavez), argues that it should be covered under health insurance from the perspective of bodily integrity," and sarcastically pointed out, "No matter how absurd it is, responding by saying we should also cover wigs, double eyelid surgery, Botox, and liposuction will only lead to emotional conflicts among the people involved and fail to bring about rational discussion."

Yoon explained the principles for applying health insurance coverage. She said, "Deciding coverage is extremely important as it can affect people's lives and deaths, and since opinions differ by disease, consensus on principles and standards must always precede decisions on individual items," emphasizing, "Therefore, many advanced countries strive to reflect public opinion in the process of setting principles and standards, but decisions on individual items are based on scientific data according to pre-established principles and standards."

Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party presidential candidate, is reportedly considering a pledge to include hair loss treatments under health insurance coverage. / Photo by YouTube channel 'Jaemyeong's Small Theater' capture

She added, "Our country's coverage principles currently specify criteria such as medical validity, medical seriousness, cost-effectiveness, patient cost burden, social benefits, and the health insurance financial situation," and criticized, "Whether hair loss is more important than life-or-death issues should not be a matter for election campaigns."

Yoon strongly criticized, "If you think the current state, where only pathological hair loss is covered and general hair loss is not recognized as a disease, is wrong, then submit evidence that stress caused by general hair loss is serious enough to be recognized as a disease, that symptoms improve significantly with health insurance support and are cost-effective, and that it does not impose a serious burden on health insurance finances," adding, "What is better about this candidate and party, who trample on the principles of national governance and the despair of critically ill patients just for votes, compared to the Chavez-Maduro regime that slashed 90% of the national GDP?"

Earlier, on the 5th, Lee said he would "like to approach it seriously" regarding the plan to include hair loss treatment drugs under health insurance coverage.

After attending the Gwangju Vision Meeting of the National Vision and National Integration Committee held at the Kim Dae-jung Convention Center in Gwangju Metropolitan City that day, he told reporters, "Bodily integrity is an important value. The reality is that hair loss has not been supported by health insurance due to financial burdens," and added, "Basically, I think it is right to take responsibility for (the cost of hair loss medication)."

Regarding concerns that covering hair loss treatment costs under health insurance could burden future finances, he said, "The policy headquarters is reviewing issues such as the extent of the financial burden and where to set the boundary," and added, "We will finalize our position soon."

Meanwhile, this pledge is reportedly one of the opinions collected through Lee's 'Listener Project' with the Democratic Party Youth Election Committee on the 2nd.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.