South Korea - The Korea Times

Government to improve trauma center system

By Kim Jae-heunThe government announced Thursday it will spend more money on trauma centers across the country to improve medical treatment for serious injuries.The poor conditions at 10 trauma centers became an issue last November after a North Korean soldier defected to the South through the Demilitarized Zone.Ajou University Hospital’s trauma specialist Lee Cook-jong led the medical team operating on the North Korean soldier, and spoke of the poor conditions and manpower shortage there.Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon who announced the measure during a cabinet meeting said the government would put forward 27 new measures to improve the working environment and medical treatment conditions to reduce the death rate to 20 percent in seven years. The injury fatality rate reached 30.5 percent in 2015.“We remember how we saved our heroic captain Seok Hae-kyun of a hijacked ship in the Gulf of Aden, and the recently defected North Korean with our advanced medical treatments. The two incidents left us with a lot of homework to do,” the prime minister said.“The public part

Mar 23, 2018

'Dog paparazzi' rule delayed indefinitely

Dogs waiting to be adopted from an animal shelter located in Mapo-gu, western Seoul / YonhapBy Kwak Yeon-sooThe Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said Thursday it will implement stricter rules and enforce heavier fines against owners who walk around without putting a leash on their dogs.This comes after growing calls for stricter animal laws sparked by a series of fatal dog bites, including the death of a woman who was bitten by a French bulldog owned by K-pop idol Choi Si-won of Super Junior.Those who do not put a leash on their dogs in public could be fined up to 500,000 won ($467), which is five times heavier than the current rule. A fine for first-time violators will be 200,000 won; 300,000 won for the second time and 500,000 won for the third. The initial fine was over 50,000 won. A rule governing dog muzzles will also come into effect. If a dog is one of five government-designated “dangerous dogs,” including Tosas, pitbull terriers, staffordshire terriers, rottweilers, and their mixed breeds, it will have to wear a muzzle in addition to being leashed o

Mar 21, 2018

'Dog paparazzi' rule delayed indefinitely

Vitamin C helps people keep healthy life

Kwangdong Pharmaceutical President Kim Hyun-sig delivers a congratulatory speech during an opening event at the 6th International Symposium on Vitamin C at The Plaza Hotel Seoul, Tuesday. / Courtesy of Kwangdong PharmaceuticalKwangdong Pharmaceutical holds 6th International Symposium on vitamin CBy Lee Kyung-min Vitamin C can help people maintain health by helping them better manage osteoporosis, diabetes and fatigue, according to experts Tuesday. Over 1,000 experts on medicine, pharmacology and health products discussed the health benefits from long-term intake of vitamin C during a biennial international symposium at The Plaza Hotel Seoul. Organized by the Korean Society of Food Science and Technology (KoSFoST) and hosted by Kwangdong Pharmaceutical, the 6th International Symposium on Vitamin C was held under the theme of “Healthy Life with Vitamin C.” Researchers from Korea, the U.S. and Denmark shared surveys and studies aimed at observing the effects of vitamin C, such as combating aging and fatigue as well as fighting diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. “Sin

Mar 20, 2018

Vitamin C helps people keep healthy life

Social perception toward obesity needs change

A doctor measures a patient's waistline to treat his illness stemming from obesity in this 2005 file photo. / Korea TimesBy Jung Da-minThe annual social and economic costs to cure illnesses stemming from obesity have doubled over the last decade, according to the National Health Insurance Corp. (NHIC), the state-run insurance company. Its latest report showed the costs reached nearly 10 trillion won in 2015, up from about 5 trillion won in 2006.The costs include direct medical expenses to cover illnesses stemming from obesity, the loss of future income due to premature death, the loss of productivity following medical treatment, the costs of nursing and transportation.The population of people getting fatter is growing rapidly, just as the aging population is.More than a third of Korean adults are obese, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.Graphic illustration by Kim In-ha (jimmyk1476@gmail.com)In 1998, one in four was overweight.“Obesity is no longer the problem of a small minority,” said Kim Yong-hwan, a doctor at Yonsei Severance Hospital in Seoul. Asians wi

Mar 20, 2018

Social perception toward obesity needs change

Fertility treatment success rates to be revealed

Information about each hospital's success rate for fertility treatment will be revealed to the public from September. / YonhapBy Jung Min-hoThe demand for fertility treatment has increased in recent years as more women delay having children. But finding a good hospital for the treatment has been difficult because hospitals keep their success rate secret.This will change when a new enforcement ordinance comes into force in six months requiring all medical institutions to disclose such data to the public, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare Monday.The ministry said the policy aimed to guarantee people's right to know and to hold hospitals more accountable for their services.As part of an effort to boost the country's low birthrate, the ministry poured more than 821 billion won ($766 million) into supporting women with fertility problems between 2006 and 2017. Nevertheless, the fertility treatment success rates among the participating hospitals have improved little.On average, according to the ministry, the success rate was 29.5 percent in 2016, up from 28.1 percent in 2012.

Mar 19, 2018

Fertility treatment success rates to be revealed

Bird Flu confirmed at farms in Gyeonggi and South Chungcheong

Quarantine officials gather chickens to cull them at a farm in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, Saturday, where they tested positive for the H5 strain of avian flu. Local authorities culled 450,000 chickens from eight farms on this day./ YonhapBy Lee Suh-yoonThe Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs confirmed the highly pathogenic H5N6 strain of avian influenza in chickens at three poultry farms in Pyeongtaek and Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, and Asan, South Chungcheong Province, Sunday.Authorities culled more than a million chickens from these farms over the weekend -- 800,000 chickens in Gyeonggi Province and 450,000 in South Chungcheong Province -- within a three kilometers radius of where the H5 strain was detected in an effort to stop the avian influenza from spreading.The ministry also issued a 48 hour transport ban on all domestic poultry starting on Saturday. Movement of persons or vehicles will be restricted for a week around the confirmed locations of the H5 strain.The first farm to be reported for a suspected case of bird flu on Friday was the one in Pyeongtaek, 6

Mar 18, 2018

Bird Flu confirmed at farms in Gyeonggi and South Chungcheong

PyeongChang Paralympics less accessible to wheelchair users

Volunteers guide visitors on to a shuttle bus to Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium on March 9. The 333 low-floor bus was taken out of its original route in Southeastern Seoul to transport wheelchair users in PyeongChang. / Courtesy of Moon Ae-rinBy Lee Suh-yoonMoon Ae-rin, a wheelchair user who attended the Paralympics opening ceremony March 9, waited more than an hour in the cold to board a shuttle bus to Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium. The private bus that Moon's group, Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination, borrowed could not go straight to the stadium. All visitors had to transfer to a free shuttle from designated locations near the venue. However, Moon and her fellow group members soon found out that there was a shortage of wheelchair-accessible seats on the shuttle buses.“Considering the number of wheelchair users who were waiting in line that day, there were too few wheelchair-accessible shuttles,” Moon said. “And even those could carry only four passengers per trip.” The shuttle Moon took that day was a low-floor public bus borrowed from Seoul, still car

Mar 18, 2018

PyeongChang Paralympics less accessible to wheelchair users

Koreans deserve quality psychotherapy

By Suh Soo-yeon Recently, the Ministry of Health and Welfare passed a new mental health bill to include cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) under the universal medical health insurance. CBT is a type of psychotherapy that has the strongest scientific evidence for being effective for a range of psychiatric illnesses, psychological problems and relationship issues. While this new mental health bill was a huge step forward in acknowledging that more forms of effective mental health care needs to be offered to the public than medical management in the country which ranks first among suicide rates, the new policy states that only psychiatrists and neurologists would be allowed to provide CBT, and excludes any other mental health professionals. As a clinical psychologist who has studied and practiced CBT for the past 13 years, written a book about CBT, and teaches CBT to graduate students every semester, this new mental health bill came as a huge shock to me for a number of reasons. First, during the last year, there were more than 6.15 million individuals in Korea who were diagnosed with s

Mar 15, 2018

Migrant wives suffer from sexual violence

By Kim Se-jeongThe recent #MeToo movement resonates with many women in Korea, giving them a sense of social justice. But it doesn’t fully do so with immigrant wives in Korea who often fall victim to sexual assault at home.Tens of thousands of young Asian women have moved to Korea after marrying Korean men ― their population outnumbers female migrant workers.Many experience hardships in their marriages, often including sexual violence and mistreatment, but they choose to stay quiet because they have too much to lose by speaking up about their spouses’ behavior. Their silence was also reflected at a press conference held in the National Assembly last Friday.Stories of their horrendous experiences were told but not by the victim themselves. Their stories were told by activists and interpreters helping them through the ordeals. “These women have a lot to lose if they speak out,” said Kim Hye-sook, co-chairwoman of the Korea Women Migrants Human Rights Center who organized the press conference. “They’re aware of the movement and somehow hope it wil

Mar 14, 2018

Migrant wives suffer from sexual violence

Korea wrestling with falling blood donation

A man donates blood at Geumcheon-gu Office in Seoul, Feb. 28. The Korean Red Cross said the nation’s fast-declining birthrate is causing a blood shortage. /YonhapLow birthrate blamed for worsening blood shortage By Kim Se-jeongKorea’s fast-shrinking birthrate coupled with a fast-growing elderly population is having an unexpected consequence: a blood shortage.According to Korean Red Cross Blood Donation Centers Monday, the national blood stock fell to 3.9 days, shorter than five days which is regarded as most desirable.The blood stock is calculated by dividing the total number of red blood cell samples in stock by 5,236 samples which are consumed every day _ donated blood from an individual is processed into red blood cells, platelets and plasma and stored separately before being shipped to patients in need.“This trend has been observed for about 10 years,” a Red Cross official said on Monday. “Most blood donors are high school students and university students, but their population is on the decline.”According to the latest Red Cross statistics, alm

Mar 12, 2018

Health