Ex-gov't official to promote Korean medicine in Croatia
By Lee Min-hyung
Shim Dong-sup
Shim Dong-sup, a former high ranking official at the trade ministry, is seeking government support to raise awareness of the Korean version of Oriental medicine both at home and abroad.
“The Ministry of Health and Welfare should expand relevant budgets for the balanced development of Western and Oriental medicine,” he said, Monday.
Shim, 56, started his career at the Ministry of Trade and Industry in 1984. While studying law in the United States, he was frustrated over hospital costs. He has since become interested in learning about Oriental medicine by himself.
“I have been studying Korean style Oriental medicine for more than 22 years,” he said. “One thing I have found is that many foreign countries are very interested in learning the methods. But this is not the case for the Korean government.”
That was the reason he partnered with Croatia’s leading psychiatric hospital to further promote global awareness about Oriental medicine.
On Nov. 24, Shim and two renowned doctors who specialize in this will visit Croatia to co-host the “Symposium for Korean Medicine Development between Korea and Croatia” with the Rab Psychiatric Hospital there.
“The symposium will add momentum for promoting Korean style Oriental medicine in Western countries,” he said. “The event will also be held in Korea next year. We are seeking to partner with more countries for its international development.”
Shim said that the Korean delegation will take Korean medicine to be given to Syrian refugees under the protection of the Croatian government.
The Chinese government is making an enormous investment by supporting their traditional medicine, according to him.
“I hope the health ministry will draw up a new roadmap for the balanced support between Western and Oriental medicine despite the declining popularity of the latter.”
Shim previously served as an overall control official for presidential state visits overseas from 2004 to 2005. He was then appointed as deputy head of the delegation for a Free Trade Agreement between Korea and the United States until 2006.
He served as head of the Seoul Office of the Small and Medium Business Administration (SMBA) in 2007 and SMBA’s Gyonggi Province Office in 2008.