This paper aims at briefly presenting the historical, social and political context of the debates on abortion in South Korea. The situation of abortion in Korea is characterized by a gap between its legal status and its reality: in spite of its illegality (in most cases) this practice is extremely common. In addition, debates about abortion entered the broadest discussion about the women’s rights to autonomy only recently. Since the 1960s and even more the 1970s, abortion has been politically tolerated and even sometimes encouraged by population control policies. This context changed around 2010 when the state decided to reinforce the criminalization of abortion as a way to increase birth rate. Abortion arrived as a major topic in public debates and the claim for its legalization became an important issue for South-Korean feminist movements. Feminists have started to mobilize for its legalization, generally in the context of broader claims for women rights to autonomy, and while also advocating the importance of sexual education and better contraceptive choice.