ABSTRACT
This chapter looks into the post-colonial, also called post-liberation, transformation of Korean health care systems from 1945 to 1960. The process of Korea's health care system formation has two extraordinary background characteristics worthy of attention for their global historical significance. The chapter delineates the postcolonial process of health care as well as the progress of health care policy implementation in South and North Koreas. In the Cold War, South Korea belonged to the capitalist camp led by the United States and North Korea belonged to the communist bloc led by the Soviet Union. Under the utterly rotten social system in South Korea, it is expected that if people lose their health and catch diseases, then they simply have to wait until they die or become disabled. The chapter discusses that South and North Koreans officially adopted the new term, 'pogon' to express their strong desire to destroy the 'wisaeng' health care system established during the Japanese colonial rule.
