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KMID : 0389220230320031043
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Korean Journal of Medical History
2023 Volume.32 No. 3 p.1043 ~ p.1073
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The 'Korean' Resolution of the Doctorless Village Crisis and the Entanglement with the Conscription System in South Korea in the 1950s-70s
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Shin Chang-Hoon
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Abstract
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This article reviews how the crisis of doctorless villages in South Korea in the 1950s-70s was closely linked to the conscription system. In the second half of the 20th century, the public health system of South Korea faced a double challenge: one was the colonial legacy of a medical shortage and urban concentration, the other was a massive conscription of military doctors after the Korean War. The term ‘doctorless village’ was a problematic signifier that reflected these historical contexts. It itself symbolized the chronic medical crisis in rural areas. However, behind the crisis, the idea of reversing the constraints from conscription and using it as a solution of doctorless villages was germinating. At first, the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs planned two alternative conceptions to fill the gaps in the public health network. One was to station military doctor in doctorless villages and the other was to dispatch civilian doctors in doctorless villages and exempt them from military service. After a series of doctor mobilizations since the May 16 coup, the medical community generally agreed with the conception and publicized it themselves. They developed arguments of alternative services by public health work and strengthened its logics. By the 1970s, the conception culminated in the establishment of the current Public Health Doctor system. In terms of condition and momentum, not only the introduction of alternative service in other sectors, but also the extension of the consensus among the government and medical community accelerated this trend. As a result, the doctorless village crisis in South Korea, which had been a critical issue for a quarter of a century, entered a phase of resolution by utilizing the conscription system as its institutional foundation. It was an aspect of the ‘Korean’ public health system characterized by the entanglement with conscription. It is also necessary to consider that it has imposed another limitation on medical care in rural areas by institutionalizing the public health system relying on mobilization and minimum budget, though.
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KEYWORD
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doctorless village, Public Health Doctor in Korea, conscription system, Republic of Korea Army, Public Physician in Korea, Public Health Center in Korea, military doctor
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FullTexts / Linksout information
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Listed journal information
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