Challenges and Strategies for Unified Health System of South and North Korea / 보건행정학회지

This paper aims to make a step-by-step strategy to formulate an unified health system by clarifying and overcoming challenges facing South and North Korea and to estimate costs needed for South Korea to assist North Korea to recover to normal health delivery system. We explored implications through literature review and estimated costs under the assumption that supportive activities be provided for 5 years in three ways: support for the development of health and medical care manpower; support for health and medical facilities; and support for the provision of both preventive and primary health care. Step-by-step strategy is formulated for a unified health system with the cost estimation resulting as follows: in case of basic scenario, a total of 3 trillion and 341 billion won (at present value of the year 2017) is in need for the 5-year period at the initial ‘recovery support stage’ with 135.9 billion won for the development of health and medical care manpower, approximately 2 trillion won for health and medical facilities, and 1.2 trillion won for the provision of both preventive and primary health care. Step-by-step approach is more realistic and applicable in formulating unified health system. Suggested stages are ‘recovery support stage,’ ‘system homogenization stage,’ and ‘unified system stage.’ Strategies at ‘recovery support stage’ suggested in this paper need to be pursued and followed by those at ‘system homogenization stage’ and ‘unified system stage.’

A Strategy Toward Reconstructing the Healthcare System of a Unified Korea / 예방의학회지

This road map aims to establish a stable and integrated healthcare system for the Korean Peninsula by improving health conditions and building a foundation for healthcare in North Korea through a series of effective healthcare programs. With a basic time frame extending from the present in stages towards unification, the roadmap is composed of four successive phases. The first and second phases, each expected to last five years, respectively, focus on disease treatment and nutritional treatment. These phases would thereby safeguard the health of the most vulnerable populations in North Korea, while fulfilling the basic health needs of other groups by modernizing existing medical facilities. Based on the gains of the first two phases, the third phase, for ten years, would prepare for unification of the Koreas by promoting the health of all the North Korean people and improving basic infrastructural elements such as health workforce capacity and medical institutions. The fourth phase, assuming that unification will take place, provides fundamental principles and directions for establishing an integrated healthcare system across the Korean Peninsula. We are hoping to increase the consistency of the program and overcome several existing concerns of the current program with this roadmap.