South Korean pharmaceutical companies are expanding into an obesity-drug market dominated by Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Eli Lilly's Mounjaro. Hanmi Pharmaceutical could receive approval as early as October 2026 for Epe, its epeglenatide-based GLP-1 treatment, which would become the first independently developed South Korean GLP-1 obesity drug and is expected to compete on price and domestic supply stability. HK inno.N is advancing once-weekly Ecnoglutide, which outperformed semaglutide in a Phase 2 study, while JW Pharmaceutical is developing Vofoglutide, a synthetic peptide designed for once-every-two-weeks dosing. The companies' plans reflect a market increasingly focused not only on weight-loss efficacy but also on tolerability, affordability, supply and treatment convenience. South Korea's obesity-drug market reached ₩700 billion last year and is projected to exceed ₩1 trillion this year.