Tensions Between Traditional Korean Medicine and Western Biomedicine From the Chosun Dynasty to 2024
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47611/jsrhs.v14i1.9001Keywords:
Traditional Korean medicine, American missionaries, Japanese colonialism, Hwa-byung, Herbal medicine, Biomedicine, Korean health systemAbstract
South Korea utilizes a dual healthcare system with traditional Korean medicine, or TKM, and Western biomedicine; however, there has been continuous conflict between the two systems since the fall of the Chosun Dynasty to modern-day Korea. This paper investigates the role of American missionaries and Japanese colonial rule in marginalizing and devaluing TKM, while Korean nationalist sentiment post-WWII led to the revival of TKM as a legitimate form of medical treatment still in use in modern-day Korea. Beginning with a brief review of the Chosun Dynasty, TKM was developed through foundational texts like the Tongeubogam and figures like Heo Joon and Lee Je Ma. In the late 19th century, American missionaries brought Western medicine to Korea and attempted to suppress traditional indigenous practices. From 1910-145, during the Japanese colonial era, TKM was further delegitimized by the Japanese in favor of Western medicine, limiting the role of Korean herbal doctors. After WWII, TKM regained legitimacy, although biomedicine still dominated the healthcare system. Finally, in 1951, TKM was included as an official option in Korea’s dual healthcare system after herbal doctors advocated for its integration. TKM has been an essential component in understanding unique Korean cultural syndromes, such as “hwa-byung,” a culturally specific disorder that doctors often relate to Korea’s difficult colonial past. Finally, TKM is gaining cultural and medical importance in modern Korea, as shown through reviews of recent surveys from 2015-2023 and treatment programs developed using TKM during COVID-19.
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https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=inu.32000006435616;view=thumb;seq=5.
Park, Soo-Il. “Rural Korean Housewives’ Attitudes towards Lllness.” Yonsei Med J 28, no. 2 (June 1987): 105–11.
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Kung Sun Oh (1878–1963).” Yonsei Medical Journal 57, no. 2 (March 1, 2016): 277–82.
https://doi.org/10.3349/ymj.2016.57.2.277.
Cho, Byong-Hee. “The Politics of Herbal Drugs in Korea.” Social Science & Medicine 51, no. 4 (2000): 505–9.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-9536(99)00492-X
Han, Gil Soo. "The Rise of Western Medicine and Revival of Traditional Medicine in Korea: A Brief History."
Korean Studies 21 (1997): 96-121. https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/ks.1997.0000.
H.K. Son, Annette. “Modernization of Medical Care in Korea (1876—1990).” Social Science & Medicine 49, no. 4
(August 1999): 198–224. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-9536(99)00151-3
Jeong, Hye I., and Kyeong H. Kim. "Development of a Korean Medicine Online Program on Mental Health."
Journal of Pharmacopuncture, vol. 26, no. 1, 2023, p. 77, https://doi.org/10.3831/KPI.2023.26.1.77.
Kim, Soo, Sunmi Choi, and Sungha Kim. "Comprehensive Review of Korean Medicine Registries 2015–2023."
Frontiers in Medicine 11, (2024): 1412053. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2024.1412053.
Kim, Sonja M. “Missionaries and ‘A Better Baby Movement’ in Colonial Korea.” In Divine Domesticities, 57–84.
Christian Paradoxes in Asia and the Pacific. ANU Press, 2014. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt13wwvck.7.
Kwon, Chan, and Boram Lee. "Effectiveness of Mind-body Medicine for Hwa-Byung (a Korean Cultural Diagnosis
of Suppressed Anger): A Systematic Review of Interventional Studies." Complementary Therapies in
Medicine, vol. 80, 2024, p. 103016, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2024.103016.
Son, Annette Hye Kyung. “Modernisation of the System of Traditional Korean Medicine (1876–1990).” Health
Policy 44, no. 3 (1998): 261–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-8510(98)00027-X.
Sonjae, An. “The Early Years of the RASKB : 1900 - 1920.” Brother Anthony of Taize (blog). Accessed December
, 2017. http://anthony.sogang.ac.kr/RASKBHistory1940.html.
Suh, Soyoung. “Stories to Be Told: Korean Doctors Between Hwa-Byung (Fire-Illness) and Depression,
–2011.” Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry 37, no. 1 (March 1, 2013): 81–104. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-012-9291-x.
Sung, Soo-Hyun, You-Sang Baik, Ji-Eun Han, Eun-Jin Lee, Jihye Kim, Minjung Park, Ji-Yeon Lee, Jang-Kyung Park, Jung-Youn Park, and Eunkyung Lee. 2022. “Traditional Korean Medicine Home Care for the Older Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic in South Korea.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19 (1): 493. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19010493
Yeonseok, Kang. “The Characteristics of Korean Medicine Based on Time Classification.” China Perspectives, no. 3
(87) (2011): 33–41. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24054709
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