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보/고/서

ATIS INTERROGATION REPORT NO. 2176　3 November 1950

FIELD REPORT (ADVATIS - 1227)　31 October 1950

PW was very cooperative and talked freely but was unable to give information on medicine in North KOREA. He offered his service as a doctor to help out the PW Hospital in theis camp. Reliability, good.

Brought up and educated in JAPAN. The last school he attended was KANAZAWA Medical College in ISHIKAWA-Ken, JAPAN. He entered this school in Apr 45 and returned to KWANGJU (光州) KOREA in late Jun 45.

Sep 45 - Entered SEOUL University as a medical student where he studied for 4 years to be a general practitioner.

Apr 49 - Graduated SEOUL University and studied surgery at the SEOUL U Hospital.

O/a 19 Jul 50 - Due to lack of doctors in the NKA medical students were selected from SEOUL U. PW and 4 other students from SEOUL U were sent to the 11th Field Hospital. It was rumored that 3 were sent to 17th Field Hospital, 1 to 40th Field Hospital and the remaining student was sent to an unknown field hospital.

The 11th Field Hospital was located at SUWON (水原) on 19 Jul 50. PW was not formally inducted into the NKA but was treated as an officer. He believed that his rank was Capt because he received a salary of 33,00 WON, which was a Capt’s pay.

O/a 31 Jul 50 - The 11th Field Hospital moved to TAEJON. The 11th Field Hospital was divided into 5 sections. #1 and #5 sections were sent to HYOPCH’ON (陜川); the #4 section to KOCHANG (高昌); #3 section to KUMCHON; and the #2 section, to which PW was assigned was sent to a place 12 km S of SANCH’ONG (山淸).

There was a collecting station at NAMWON (南原) from which the wounded were sent to a hospital in TAEJON.

25 Sep 50 - PW, another medical officer and 2 nurses went to treat some casualties at SANCHONG (山淸). At this time the #2 section of the 11th Field Hospital was located at HAMYANG (咸陽).

26 Sep 50 - When PW returned to HAMYANG the #2 Section had retreated.

15 Oct 50 - PW surrendered to S. Korean police at MUNGYONG (聞慶).

MEDICAL INTELLIGENCE:　　KOREA

Obs: Jun 45 - Sep 50

1. Civilian Health, Sanitation, and Medical Practice:

a. The nation as a whole:

1. Health:

PW believes that the S. Koreans are not concerned with public health and sanitation. N. Koreans were ahead of S. Koreans in this field. Example: SEOUL U Hospital was the best in the nation, but since V-J day, due to lack of government funds the hospital had gradually degenerated. Families of the patients came to live with the patients and cooked rice and washed clothes in the ward. The hospital issued only a small amount of food and the members of the patients family ate that food and the patients ate the food that was cooked in the ward. The hospital was very noisy. Sick persons without money were not admitted ot the hospital since no funds were available.

The doctors at the hospital were instructed not to treat anyone unless he paid the required amount of money before entering the hospital.

In May 50, all “extended” visits by the members of the patients’ family were prohibited, but some still managed to stay on. Food had to be cooked at designated places. After that the hospital became a little cleaner and more quiet.

When PW started working with N. Korean doctors in Jul 50, he heard the following: In N. KOREA, when a person became ill he was usually admitted to a hospital although he did not have enough social security insurance (社會保險) were treated free of charge at the government hospital. Those persons who did not have any money were taken care of by special funds. There were private hospitals in N. KOREA but they were not as popular as the government hospitals because the latter were cheaper and had higher standards. At the government hospitals it was quiet. There were scheduled visiting hours. Emphasis was placed on sanitation. Medicine in N. KOREA was socialized after V-J day and it seemed to be way ahead of S. KOREA in the field of public health and sanitation. However, PW believed that S. Korean doctors possess better medical knowledge than their N. Korean counterparts. NK doctors seemed to be unconcerned with new medical problems at the present time. They did not know how to use penicillin and were surprised that PW was able to do so. Penicillin was smuggled in from CHINA but only VIP’s were treated with it (hearsay).

PW believed that statistics on births, deaths, and cause of deaths were collected by both S. and N. Korean governments. However no statistics were made public by the NK government and PW believed that the S. Korean government published these statistics only once in the newspaper after V-J day.

Due to the large number of Malaria patients in the NKA, PW surmised that this disease was most prevalent in N. Korea. Few deaths resulted from this disease. Malaria was most common during the summer months. Malaria patients of the NKA were treated with ATABRINE tablets of American manufacture. At first the medical supplies of the NKA were adequate but since Sep 50, supply was low due to Allied bombing of transportation facilities. Bandages had to be washed and reused.

In S. KOREA dysentery and typhoid fever are the most common disease, caused by poor food. They were not considered serious for grown ups and were most prevalent during the summer months. During the winter months, pneumonia was prevalent. In S. KOREA the birth rate is high, but the infant mortality rate is very high also. Dysentery and pneumonia take a large toll among infants. Since only the stronger ones survive, few grown ups die of dysentery, typhoid or pneumonia. Bad water and the lack of sanitary education contribute greatly to the prevalence of tyhpoid fever.

AKTYNOMYCOSIS is very rare in KOREA and although PW was read of many cases, he never saw a single patient with this disease in KOREA. He believes that it is prevalent in farm villages and with people who handle hides, such as tanners. No control procedures are established for this disease. Although Malaria was prevalent in KOREA, no preventative measures such as destroying the breeding places of mosquitoes, were taken. Large cities might take some preventive measures, but these did not amount to much. PW heard that Malaria was prevalent in MANCHURIA and that it spread to KOREA from there. Tyhpus was most prevalent during the 2 years after V-J day but at present it is not too widespread. In S. KOREA injections and DDT powder are used to prevent this disease. PW did not know what preventive measures were being taken against this disease in N. KOREA but he heard that it was not as prevalent in N. KOREA as in S. KOREA. DISTAMASIS PULMONALSIS (肺螒ヂストヌ) and (肝藏ヂストヌ) (translation unknown—believed some kind of liver ailment) were prevalent in mountain villages. These diseases were caused by consuming raw fish caught in polluted mountain streams. They were no preventive measures taken against this disease but research was conducted by some of the medical colleges in S. KOREA.

In S. KOREA each person received small-pox vaccination at government expense but there were many people who went to private hospitals. Typhus fever innoculations were given to the people when there was a possibility that this disease would spread. However, this was done in the large cities only and the innoculations were usually given around July. The serum for these innoculations was made at the National Bacteria Labatory (國立細菌硏究所) in SEOUL. The effectiveness of small-pox innoculation was very high and prior to V-J day small-pox and tyhpus fever cases were almost non-exixtent in KOREA.

There was adequate food in KOREA, but hoarding prevailed and priced were high. The Koreans eat very little meat and their food is low in caloric value. This is one of the reasons why Koreans and ANKYLOSTOMIASIS DUODENALE (十二指腸病), which are among the most common diseases in KOREA. In S. KOREA the government at times did not allow the sale of rice except by authorized agents but the price of rice in the black market was practically the same as government prices so the people brought their rice in the black market. Salt and sugar were scarce but obtainable in the black market. There was no national control of food sanitation. Therefore a farmer could slaughter his Cholera diseased pig and sell it on the market.

Since V-J day most of the medical supplies and equipment was imported from the US. When PW started to work in the NKA 11th Field Hospital he saw the there was a shortage of all medical supplies, and the instruments that were used, were of Japanese manufacture.

Industrial Hygiene: Unknown to PW

Non-Governmental Organizations for Health and Welfare: There were no such organizations in S. KOREA.

Medical Education: The following are the Medical Colleges in S. KOREA:

SEOUL U Medical College - SEOUL, KOREA

“SEBURAN” Medical College - SEOUL, KOREA

SEOUL Women’s Medical College - SEOUL, KOREA

TAEGU Medical College - TAEGU, KOREA

KWANGJU Medical College - KWANGJU, KOREA

“I HWA” (梨花) Women’s College, Medical Dept - SEOUL

There was only one Dental college in S. KOREA: The SEOUL U Dental College in SEOUL. All the above mentioned colleges were under government control except for “SEBURAN” (phonetic) Medical College, which was established by an American missionary. The school term at these medical colleges is 4 years and the graduates have to serve at least a year’s internship before they are given diplomas. During their internship the students specialize in a certain field of the medical profession. After serving their internship the new doctors can practice either as a general practitioner or in their special field but they are not considered specialists.

There is a specialist school at SEOUL U Medical College (3 years term). After this 3 year course, graduates are given the title of Professor and are considered specialists. This is the only specialist school in S. KOREA. The school term of the Dental School in the SEOUL U is 4 years. Women as well as men attend this school. This is the only school teaching dentistry in S. KOREA. Qualifications for entering the medical school in S. KOREA are as follows; The student must be a high school graduate, free from financial worries, and he must pass the entrance examination. Since V-J day the school system of S. KOREA has changed from time to time and the students are not satisfied.

PW heard that there were the following medical schools in N. KOREA:

CHONGJIN Medical School - CHONGJIN, KOREA

HAMHUNG Medical School - HAMHUNG, KOREA

PYONGYANG Medical School - PYONGYANG, KOREA

The graduates of these N. Korean medical schools were assigned areas in which they were to practice.

Medical Practice (S. KOREA): Before opening a practice the doctor has to put in an application to the Board of Health (保健部) stating the place where he wishes to practice. This is necessary because there is a tendency for the new doctors to open their practices in large cities rather than in the country. After he has received approval from the Board of Health, the young doctor must get approval from the police of the district in which he desires to work. The police can disapprove his application to work in that place but it is usually approved. The Board of Health issues the license to practice medicine.

Approximately 170 students were graduated from the SEOUL U Medical College each year after V-J day.

Following are the prominent medical personalities in SK:

KIM, Si Ch’ang (金時昌) 41 years old.

He is not affiliated with any political organization. Graduated SEOUL U Medical College and was teacher at the SEOUL Womens’ Medical College until V-J day. Was transferred to SEOUL U Medical College. He taught surgery at the schools. He is “Professor”. He started to study brain surgery 2 years ago and was still studying when PW left SEOUL U Medical College in Jul 50.

SIM, Ho Sop (沈浩変); about 65 years old.

This physician was considered one of the best in S. KOREA. He was the principal of SEOUL U Medical College for about 6 months in 46. He was sick and often treated at SEOUL U Hospital. He was interested in and studied respiratory diseases. He has retired from active practice.

KIM, Kyong Sik (金敬植); about 42 years.

This man is a professor at SEOUL U and is a specialist in respiratory diseases. He is a graduate of the SEOUL U Medical College. He treats patients on a part time basis at night at his home and is a wealthy man.

The above mentioned doctors frequently contributed articles to medical pamphlets and magazines.

PW estimates that there is about 1 doctor to 100,000 people in KOREA at the present time. The number of women doctors in KOREA is very small because many of them married while attending medicla school or soon after graduating.

The standard of the medical school have dropped considerably since V-J day due to the lack of qualified teachers, lack of medical supplies and lack of good students. The students were hampered in their studies by political activities.

PW believed that if KOREA were not supplied with medical supplies by foreign sources the doctors in KOREA would be unable to do their work.

PW believes that the two main things that need to be accomplished in raising the standards of public health and sanitation of KOREA are: The raising of the living standard in KOREA and the education of the people in public health and sanitation.

For the Commanding Officer: