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is estimated that close to 5,000 workers each year have their body parts amputated at work. He said that he would have to endure pain, a great sense of loss, and difficult rehabilitation before returning to daily life.



Reporter Hyun-Jeong Lee reports.



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Kim Dong-gon, who fell at a construction site last year and had part of his right leg amputated.



Pina returned to work next year after rehabilitation, and the recently replaced prosthetic leg played a major role.



[Kim Dong-gon / Industrial accident patient: I believe in myself because it is an electronic prosthetic leg. Whether you walk forward, sideways, or backwards, you are stable. However, since the price is so high (it is burdensome)]



Mr. Min Kyung-hyeon, whose arm was amputated by the machine, began to put on an electric prosthetic operated by the electric current generated when the muscle moved.



[Min Kyung-hyun / Industrial accident patient: Washing dishes and things like that become possible. I can't do as much as a normal person's hand, but I can still play a small role.]



Fortunately, both of them were recognized for their industrial accidents, but Kim Dong-gon paid 20 million won, about half the price of a 40 million won prosthetic leg. had to pay.



The government-led R&D has already led to the world's top level of domestic technology for assistive devices.



The problem is that as performance increases, so does the price burden.



It is a prosthetic hand developed by a domestic research team.



A three-finger prosthesis costs 5.5 million won, and a prosthetic that can perform more delicate movements costs 17 million won.



Since the market size is not large and it is a monopoly system, the price is maintained too high for individuals to afford.



[Park Se-hoon / Head of Rehabilitation Engineering Research Institute, Labor Welfare Corporation: There are no related companies in Korea, so they are exclusively sold, so the price is what they call it.

In order to form a market and supply it to actual patients, we need not only develop it, but provide sufficient support so that the companies involved in the development can



thrive. say do.



[Lee Kang-pyo / Head of Rehabilitation Medicine Research Center, Incheon Hospital, Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Corporation: (30 million won) If you buy a prosthetic leg, it's a commodity, so it's used like a car for about 5 years.

I don't think it's really a big price if this person gets a job again after applying for 500,000 won a month.]



(Video coverage: Seol Min-hwan, video editing: Hwang Ji-young)  



▶ Prosthetics and prosthetic legs 'Calling is price'…

Even if it is an industrial accident, half of it is the responsibility of the person