Medical license is to qualify a person for medical practice and to attribute him/her a privileged right in the practice. This privileged and exclusive right asks for protection from the side of a state and the state in turn needs qualified medical personnel in order to carry out her task of public health, one of the main duties of modern states. In Europe, physicians succeeded in obtaining medical license that guarantees the privileged right in a highly competitive medical market against other practitioners. The first regulation for medical license in Korea was made in 1900 when few Korean doctors trained in Western medicine was in practice. The regulation aimed at controlling traditional medical practitioners who had been practicing medicine without any qualification as a physician. The regulation was very brief, consisting of only seven articles. A newly revised regulation appeared in 1913 when Korea was under the occupation of Japan. The Japanese Government-General enacted a series of regulations about medical personnel, including dentists and traditional medical practitioners. This heralds its full-scale engagement in medical affaires in Korea. Unlike the case of European countries where medical license was obtained after a long struggle with other practitioners, in Korea, medical license was given to doctors too easily from the state. And this experience played a very important role in the formation of identity of Korean doctors.
English Abstract ; History of Medicine, 20th Cent. ; Korea ; Licensure, Medical/*history

In the 1950s and 1960s, Korea overcame the aftermath of the war and laid the foundations for modernization of economy and professionalization of medicine. The National Medical Services Law, enacted in 1951 was the first medical law to be legislated since the establishment of the Republic of Korea. The law provided a medical system for the traditional Korean medical practitioners, activated opening of hospitals through report-only system and prohibition of interference in medical practice, and facilitated mobilization of the doctors by the government. The Medical Law, legislated in 1962 by the Park Jong-Hee administration contained practice license system, regular practice reporting system and practice designation, thereby strengthening the government control on the medical practitioners, inducing professionalism and high-quality of medical practitioners and abolished unlicensed medical practitioners such as acupuncturists, moxa cauterists and bone setters. The Medical Assistant Law of 1963 was introduced so that medical examination and assistance could be carried out under supervision of professional doctors. To reduce areas without healthcare system, region-specified medical practitioners got licensure and a community doctor system was organized. However, due to expensive medical fees in comparison to economic status and medical needs of patients, shortage of doctors, low accessibility to hospitals led to the prevalence of illegal medical practice by unlicensed practitioners. Absence of national budget or policy on the health care system and the American-style noninterference medical system were other factors causing the situation. Government, Korean Medical Associations and Korean Dental Association tried, without success, to exercise control over the unlicensed medical practice. President Park Jong-Hee had to introduce a special law concerning the health-care related crimes with life sentence as the highest penalty. While the government put modernization before social welfare, operated on a policy of state-controlled medical care system, and doctors achieved specialization system similar to that of the United States, the public had to suffer, being treated by unlicensed medical practitioners. Inevitably, the need for a national medical practitioner supply plan and a policy to support health service was raised.
Health Policy/history ; History, 20th Century ; Humans ; Legislation, Medical/*history ; Licensure/*history ; Private Sector/history ; Public Health/history ; Republic of Korea ; State Medicine/*history

This article traces early career of Kong Pyung Woo, a public figure famous for being the first doctor of medicine in ophthalmology with Korean ethnicity in 1936, for founding and running the oldest and still the most successful private eye clinic in Korea since 1937, and also for his engagement in development of Korean mechanical typewriter since 1949. His case is an illustrative example of how a Korean under the Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945) could build up a career to become a medical doctor, taking full advantage of the chances available. Kong, born in 1907 in a rural province in northwestern Korea, acquired a doctor's license in 1926 by passing the qualifying examination of the Government General in Korea. The qualification test was in itself an outcome of colonial education system, in which the supply of medical doctors by only a few tertiary schools could not meet the demands. After working for a state hospital for one year, Kong volunteered to be a visiting student at Keijo Medical College, to fulfill his dream of "becoming a prominent bacteriologist like Noguchi Hideyo." He was soon officially appointed as a tutor at Department of Ophthalmology, as he had been endorsed by professor Satake Shyuichi for his diligence and earnestness. Satake also encouraged Kong to pursue a doctoral degree and recommended him to Tokumitsu Yoshitomi, a professor in the Department of Pathology at Keijo Imperial University, so that Kong could experience cutting-edge research at the imperial university. Kong reported on his experiments on the pathology of chorioretinitis centralis by 1935. He submitted the reports to Nagoya Imperial University, Japan, as a doctoral thesis, and eventually obtained the degree in 1936, which was the first Korean doctor of medicine in ophthalmology. The doctorate made Kong a public figure and he opened his own private clinic in 1937. The Kong Eye Clinic was the first private eye clinic owned and run by Korean, and soon became popular in Seoul. Kong's fame as a successful practitioner gradually made him express his opinion on various social issues. Kong did not hesitate to utilize his influence to advocate the new "modern" way of living, with special emphasis on speed and efficiency. His engagement in typewriter business since 1949 may also be attributed to his firm belief in the value of speed and efficiency. Although he could not fulfill his dream of being an academic, Kong still remains as an important figure in the history of medicine in modern Korea, not only for his publicity. By closely analyzing Kong's personal story, one can see various aspects of opportunities, personal networks, social norms, and limitations within the colonial setting.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Chorioretinitis ; Commerce ; Education ; Education, Medical ; History of Medicine ; Hospitals, State ; Humans ; Japan ; Korea* ; Licensure ; Ophthalmology* ; Pathology ; Running ; Seoul