Korean Journal of Medical History最新文献

This article analyzes the formation of the development-oriented path of the South Korean healthcare system in the 1960s as a complex outcome of shifts in domestic politics and foreign aid. To this end, it focuses on the Public Health Evaluation & Planning Program (1960-1962), a program that coincided with the intersection of political upheavals-the April Revolution and the May 16 military coup-and a transition in U.S. aid policy to Korea. The April Revolution led to the collapse of the Syngman Rhee regime, which had prioritized defense and development, allowing a welfare state discourse to emerge. Popular aspirations unleashed by the revolution created cracks in the ideological landscape of the 1950s, which had been dominated by the defense-and-development-first policy. From a perspective advocating the harmonization of welfare and the economy, Korean health experts and the USOM Health and Sanitation Division strongly argued for an expanded governmental role in healthcare after the revolution. This effort materialized as the Public Health Evaluation & Planning Program, a common preliminary step for long-term health planning in the international health field at the time. The military junta, which seized power through the coup a year after the revolution, sealed the cracks created by the revolution. They adopted an explicit development-first policy and focused on economic development, grounded in the logic of subsuming welfare within the framework of economic growth. Concurrently, aiming to reduce the economic burden of aid, the U.S. government rapidly curtailed public health assistance-the material foundation of Korea's healthcare system. Furthermore, amidst the reorganization of aid agencies, the USOM Health and Sanitation Division-which had emphasized the parallel pursuit of welfare and development-was dismantled. USOM began to promote the establishment of a development-oriented healthcare system in Korea. The Korean healthcare system rapidly achieved 'self-sufficiency' from the U.S. but without the intended expansion of the government's role. This dual shock of the early 1960s-the military coup and the shift in U.S. aid policy-functioned as a critical juncture, locking the Korean healthcare system into the development-oriented path.

This study examines how physicians and scholar-officials of the Song dynasty reconceptualized and medically confronted zhang -an uncontrolled and deadly tropical disease endemic to the Lingnan region of southern China. Since ancient times, the expansion of the Chinese cultural sphere toward the south had been shadowed by fears of the region's hot, humid climate and the "poisonous vapors" (duqi) believed to cause fatal illnesses. These environmental anxieties contributed to the cultural Othering of Lingnan as an uncivilized and perilous frontier, inhabited by "barbarian" peoples and veiled in superstition. While Sui and Tang physicians such as Chao Yuanfang and Sun Simiao distinguished zhang from cold damage (shanghan) and epidemic fevers (wenyi), their understanding remained theoretical and classificatory, relying on bianbing (disease categorization) rather than individualized bianzheng (pattern differentiation). In contrast, Song-period physicians-particularly the so-called ruyi (Confucian physicians)-advanced an empirical and practice-oriented medicine. Through direct observation and clinical experience, they transformed zhang from an untamed and supernatural affliction into a diagnosable and treatable syndrome grounded in empirical reasoning. This transformation unfolded within the broader socio-political context of the Song dynasty, when the empire's political and economic center shifted southward and the development of Lingnan became a national concern. The state's medical bureaus undertook extensive compilation projects, producing formularies such as the Taiping Huimin Heji Jufang and Shengji Zonglu Zuanyao, which aimed to standardize treatments throughout the empire. Yet these texts, rooted in northern medical paradigms, often failed to address the specific climatic and pathological conditions of the Lingnan tropics. In response, scholar-officials and local physicians-including Li Qiu, Zhang Zhiyuan, Wang Fei, Wang Nanyong, and Zhang Jie-compiled medical works such as the Lingnan Weisheng Fang. Drawing upon firsthand clinical encounters, they emphasized the importance of pulse examination, symptom differentiation, and ecological adaptation in treatment. Their efforts reflected a synthesis of classical medical theory and local medical knowledge, bridging state medicine and regional realities. Ultimately, this study argues that the transformation of zhang from a numinous affliction into a treatable disease signifies a critical epistemological shift in Chinese medical history. By confronting fear through observation, classification, and practice, Song physicians extended the boundaries of both medical rationality and civilization itself. The conquest of the "untamed disease" thus metaphorically represents the taming of the southern frontier and the integration of its environment into the moral and intellectual order of the empire.

This essay examines the emergence of obstetric anesthesia through two competing methods for "painless childbirth" in early twentieth-century America: Twilight Sleep and Sunrise Slumber. It explores the ways in which childbirth practices were established in America at the turn of the twentieth century and aims to reveal how contemporary American society accepted these two methods, what distinguished them from one another, and how medical knowledge and techniques competed for dominance. Sunrise Slumber, which involved the inhalation of nitrous oxide, was ultimately adopted in many regions, including Britain, Canada, and Australia. In the United States, however, it could not surpass Twilight Sleep, a method that rendered expectant mothers unconscious through the injection of morphine and scopolamine and had garnered strong support from American women. This essay demonstrates that the adoption of medical technology was shaped more by the political and social circumstances of the time than by its purported objective utility. Furthermore, it contributes to existing scholarship by tracing the history of various anesthetic methods developed to reduce or eliminate labor pain during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

HIV/AIDS control in Korea characterized with "AIDS Prevention Law", enacted in 1987. It was one of the first separate legal enforcement around the world that governs control of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Yet with significant limitations regarding human rights, as it criminalized HIV infection, and dictates penal action against 'transmitters'. This papers looks into how HIV/AIDS epidemic started in Korea in 1980s, with specific focus on disease narrative that was constructed by the government. It was known to United States Forces Korea, that HIV was already spreading steady into Korean female sex workers around U.S. military bases in 1985. This information was concealed by Korean Ministry of health, in the face of upcoming international events such as 1988 Seoul Olympics. Instead, the Korean government turned public attention to 'imported' cases, constructing narrative that HIV/AIDS as a foreign disease. With direction of president, HIV/AIDS control focus on compulsory testing and isolation of identified risk group of sexual minorities and sex workers around U.S. military bases. This narrative of foreign disease had lasting impact even after democratization of Korea in 1987, as civil society, unaware that HIV/AIDS had already became endemic in Korea, argued to enforced compulsory testing against foreign nationals upon entry. This paper argues that disease narratives were carefully constructed by the government during early phase of HIV/AIDS epidemic in Korea, and used legal structure as ways to conceal the actual prevalence from both domestic and international attention.

This paper examines the challenges and improvements associated with the training curriculum and implementation of the Peace Corps Health Auxiliary Program in South Korea from 1967 to 1970. Established as part of U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War, the Peace Corps sought to promote modernization emphasizing economic productivity in developing countries through volunteer efforts. From 1967 to 1981, the Peace Corps dispatched approximately 500 health volunteers to South Korea across 18cohorts. These volunteers worked in local health centers on tuberculosis control, mother and child health, and other public health initiatives. Despite the program's significance, the operational aspects of the health initiative and the activities undertaken by the volunteers remain under-explored in academic literature. The early phases of the program, particularly the K-4 and K-6 cohorts, faced the challenge of transforming non-specialist B.A. generalists into competent health workers in the Korean medical field. These efforts encountered significant obstacles, including limited understanding of local health conditions, a lack of volunteers' expertise, and inadequate operational guidelines. These shortcomings contributed to high early termination rates among volunteers. The enactment of the Tuberculosis Control Act in 1968 marked a turning point for the program, leading to improved coordination between donor and recipient parties and broadening the focus of the health program to include additional public health initiatives after the K-13 group. This study highlights the importance of a well-structured pre-service training curriculum and collaborative engagement with relevant authorities for successful program outcomes. It illustrates that, while initial public health efforts faced setbacks, they laid the foundation for subsequent improvements in health services in Korea. This study underscores the need for continued exploration of the Peace Corps' comprehensive health initiatives and their long-term impacts.

This article examines the historical trajectory of South Korea's maternal and child health (MCH) programs from the late 1970s to the 1980s, focusing on the establishment and operation of MCH centers funded by the World Bank population loan. It investigates how these centers reflected the evolving relationship between population control policies and public health services within South Korea's developing healthcare system. The MCH centers, established nationwide but primarily located in rural areas, were intended to improve maternal and infant health indicators while ultimately contributing to fertility reduction. Despite the ambitious vision of integrating family planning with comprehensive maternal and child healthcare, the centers faced significant challenges, including funding shortages, difficulties in recruiting midwives, and competition from the rapidly expanding private medical sector, which offered modern diagnostic technologies and access to specialist physicians. In response, the government attempted to redirect remaining funds toward establishing comprehensive MCH centers within private hospitals; however, this shift did not substantially increase the utilization of local MCH centers. This study demonstrates that, despite the rhetoric emphasizing maternal and child health, MCH programs remained subordinate to fertility control objectives within South Korea's population policy framework. The history of these centers highlight the tension between demographic goals and public health service needs, as well as the complex interplay between international development organizations, national policy priorities, and local healthcare practices during a period of rapid social transformation in South Korea.

This paper analyzes the historical origins and contents of the "Prices of Herbal Medicines" and "Prices of Prescription Medicines" sections within Gosachalyo (Selected Essentials on Verified Facts, 1554), examining how the accumulation of medical knowledge during the early Joseon dynasty influenced sixteenth century public healthcare services and clinical practices. These price lists, which detail medicinal herbs and prescription drugs sold by the Jeonuigam (Directorate of Medicine) and the Hyeminseo (Office of Benefiting the People)-the Joseon government's primary public healthcare institutions-were based on prices established during the reign of King Seongjong (1469-1494), with some subsequent adjustments. By the early sixteenth century, 141 prescriptions had been compiled in Yakmyeong (Names of Medicines). This collection was later annotated by an unknown medical official under the title Chiyobokbeop (Gist and Dosage of Medicine). During the compilation of Gosachalyo in 1553 (the eighth year of King Myeongjong's reign), royal physician Yang Yesu significantly augmented this repertoire, incorporating numerous contemporary prescriptions and organizing a list of 266 medicines. While some price adjustments are evident, the listed prices of herbal medicines and prescription drugs remained largely consistent with those established during King Seongjong's reign. The Joseon government maintained these officially promulgated prices for approximately sixty years-from the late Seongjong period until the publication of the first edition of Gosachalyo in 1554-and this price stability continued into the early seventeenth century. This policy reflects the government's commitment to ensuring a stable and accessible supply of medicines for the subjects. Compared to Yakmyeong of the early sixteenth century, the mid-sixteenth-century Gosachalyo contains nearly twice as many prescriptions, covering a broader range of diseases. The newly added prescriptions targeted prevalent societal health threats, such as dysentery, and other previously under-treated illnesses. Joseon medical practitioners actively engaged medical texts imported from the Ming dynasty, such as Yixue Zhengzhuan (Orthodox Documentations of Medicines, 1515), to meet the growing and diverse medical needs of society. By the mid-sixteenth century, Joseon's clinical medicine was transitioning from the "Old Prescription" stage-reliant on older compendia like Hejijufang (Formulas from the Imperial Pharmacy, 1148) and Dexiaofang (Effective Formulas, 1337)-to a "New Prescription" stage, characterized by the adoption of the Ming dynasty's medical knowledge. These sixteenth-century imports not only revolutionized Joseon's clinical practices but also significantly impacted the government's public health initiatives.