Should I get surgery by a North Korean doctor ② [Walking with reporter Ahn Jung-sik in Pyongyang]

Last Post ▶ [Walking with Reporter Ahn Jung-sik and Pyongyang] In ①, whether to undergo surgery by a North Korean doctor, we looked at the question of whether to recognize the qualifications of North Korean doctors after unification.

As we saw in the last article, it is impossible to suspend the qualifications of North Korean doctors at once after unification.

Because there is no way to fill the medical gap in North Korea.

It is also not easy to become a doctor in North Korea. If you do not admit your qualifications as a doctor just because you are unified, the opposition from North Korean doctors who have been deprived of their vested interests will be difficult.

However, if the qualifications of North Korean doctors are recognized as they are, the question arises whether South Koreans will seek medical attention from North Korean doctors.

South Koreans believe that North Korean doctors are less proficient than South Korean doctors, but they are asking if they would seek medical attention from North Korean doctors just because they had a doctor's license.

Here, I would like to mention'cut' and'dissolve' that are briefly appearing in the broadcast editing.

'Cut' editing refers to a method of directly changing from one screen to another, whereas'dissolve' editing refers to a method in which one screen gradually disappears and another screen appears gradually.

'Dissolve' editing is a method in which the first screen gradually disappears as the first screen and the next screen overlap.

'Cut' editing is the most common form of editing, but when speaking in contrast between'cut' and'dissolve','cut' means disconnection while'dissolve' means connecting the first and next screens. I understand.

The reason for referring to'cut' and'dissolve' is that integration must be'dissolve'.

Even if North Korean society accepts a new political and economic system through unification, the lives of North Koreans will continue steadily. Just because unification is achieved, it is not possible to live a completely different life.

Change your life in line with the new liberal democracy and market economy, but the change should be a process of gradual change, like'dissolve', not'cut'.

It is necessary to give North Koreans time and mental space to adapt to the new society while respecting the way they have lived and what they have already had.

North Korean doctors Let's look at the problem of qualification recognition of North Korean doctors in terms of a'dissolve' approach.

The integration of the doctor system after unification needs a way to allow the new doctor system to naturally settle into the North Korean region with the passage of time while minimizing the impact that South Korean residents and North Korean doctors receive.

While North Korean doctors should maintain their vested interests as medical professionals, South Koreans should be able to exercise the option of seeing South Korean doctors if they wish, and ultimately, the South Korean doctor system should have a direction to spread to the North Korean region.

In other words, while the existing North Korean doctors do not suffer any damage, the North Korean doctor system should gradually disappear and be replaced by the South Korean doctor system.

way to solve this problem so that they are recognized only in North Korea is to recognize the qualifications of North Korean doctors but only in North Korea.

It is to allow North Korean doctors to practice medical treatment as before, but only in the North Korean region, and limit those who can perform medical treatment across the Korean Peninsula to those with South Korean medical qualifications.

In this case, North Korean doctors will be able to practice medical treatment in the North Korean region as before, so no vested interests will be deprived.

Only people with South Korean medical qualifications exist in the South Korean region, and people with South Korean medical qualifications and North Korean medical qualifications will coexist in the North Korean region. The choice of the residents depends on which doctor to go to.

In fact, North Koreans have been treated by North Korean doctors so far, so there is no reluctance to receive treatment from North Korean doctors.

This is because even in North Korea, talented people have received a considerable level of medical education to go to medical school and become doctors.

It is the South Koreans who are reluctant to see North Korean doctors, but if the qualifications of North Korean doctors are limited to the North Korean region, there will be no difference in diagnosis and treatment for South Koreans.

It is entirely up to you to choose which doctor you will see if South Koreans go to North Korea.

However, the training of new medical staff should be made through the South Korean system.

This is because spreading the South Korean physician system nationwide is the ultimate goal of healthcare integration.

Students enrolled in the upper grades of North Korean medical schools can be granted North Korean doctor qualifications on a transitional basis after graduation, but basically, new students who want to become doctors should be educated through the South Korean system and have to undergo a doctor examination after graduation to obtain a South Korean doctor qualification Do it.

If North Koreans also prefer South Korean doctor's license holders with high medical skills, North Korean doctors will naturally be cut off according to market principles as time goes by.

During this process, if there are North Korean medical staff who want to obtain a new South Korean-style doctor's license, they should be given the opportunity to retrain.

If I obtain a South Korean doctor's license through additional efforts, the qualification is recognized, and those who intend to live under the existing North Korean doctor's qualifications also recognize themselves.

It will be difficult for jobs in the political and social sectors that are not medical or technical professions to carry out the integration work in this way.

As we will see later, it is inevitable that the occupations that form the basis of the system are selectively granted existing qualifications only to those who have passed the standard through the re-appointment process.

However, it would be better to go in the direction of generally recognizing qualifications in the existing North Korean regime.

The vested rights in the existing system are recognized as much as possible, but it is a desirable direction of integration to achieve a'dissolve' type change rather than a'cut' by gradually changing to a new system.

(Photo = Chosun Joongang TV)