Korea, South

The Republic of Korea, as South Korea is officially known, was founded following World War II, and is located in north-east Asia. From 1910 until 1945 the whole of the Korean peninsula was a part of the Empire of Japan, having been effectively occupied by Japan since 1895. Following World War II, a pro-Amer-ican government was established in South Korea under the leadership of Syngman Rhee. He survived the Korean War and remained president until 1960.

Prior to 1945, the health care system in Korea was fairly rudimentary for most of the people in the country. The Korean Medical Association was founded on November 15, 1908 as the ‘Medical Affairs Research Society,” with 66 members. At that time only the elite and the Japanese had access to hospitals. Many of them still used elaborate herbal cures as well as bathing in spa baths in hot springs which were thought to provide cures for a variety of conditions including cancer. In addition some people still used the herbal prescriptions made in the 85-volume work produced in 1433 and known as the Hyangyak chipsongbang (“Great Collection of Korean Prescriptions”), and the Uibang yuch'wi (Great Collection of Medicines and Prescriptions), which was published in 1445, and ran to 365 volumes.

It was not until 1991 that medical insurance was available to everybody in South Korea.

The end of the war saw the new Syngman Rhee government oversee the foundation of the Chosun Medical Association on May 10, 1947, with it publishing its Journal of the Chosun Medical Association exactly a year later. On September 21, 1948 it was renamed the Korean Medical Association, and in July 1949 joined the World Medical Association.

The Korean War, from 1950 until 1953, resulted in the devastation of much of the country, and there was a large rebuilding program from 1955. On October 6, 1966, the Council of Medical Societies was [Page 986]established, and on March 21, 1967, the first issue of the Korean Medical Association News was published. On April 29, 1970, the Korean Society for Medical Politics was founded in Seoul, with subsequent groups for Korean Japanese and Korean Americans founded in 1972 and 1974 respectively.

In 1977 the Free and Subsidized Medical Aid Program was introduced for poor people in the country, and two years later the program was increased to cover civil servants, teachers in private schools and also all companies which employed 300 of more people. In 1981 it was extended to all companies that employed 100 or more people, and by 1984 covered everybody in companies with 16 or more people. It was not until 1991 that medical insurance was available to everybody in the country.

The major problems that faced South Korea were respiratory diseases such as pneumonia, bronchitis and tuberculosis, as well as gastrointestinal illnesses. Gradually as the country industrialized and prospered, there were more cases of kidney and liver problems, and also cancer. Indeed South Korea now has the second highest rate of stomach cancer in the world, after Japan. This is thought to come from the excessive eating of kimchi, the traditional Korean pickled cabbage, as well as the eating of products that include red ginseng. In recent years there has been an increase in the number of cases of people suffering from HIV/AIDS and also Koreans abusing illegal drugs. There are also occasional cases of malaria along the border with North Korea. It is also claimed by many health professionals in South Korea that the rapid urbanization has led to an increase in the prevalence of mental illness.

...