[Editorial] Military Medicine Must Focus on Soldiers

It has been revealed that the military's medical records on No Chung Guk had been doctored with. No discovered that he had stomach cancer two weeks after being discharged from the military, and the cancer has since taken his life. It turns out that when No's family demanded his records, his medical officer went back and added to his records mention of the possibility he might have stomach cancer. The Ministry of National Defense's official statement has become a downright lie, since just ten days ago it declared there "hadn't been any problems in his medical care while in the military." Re-writing official military documents and filing false reports is not something to be taken lightly. This is an extreme case of a lack of discipline, since to avoid responsibility someone treated the whole chain of command and report-filing, on which the military's life depends, as if it is filled with a bunch of fools. It should not be assumed that the falsification of records was the act of a single medical officer. There must be a thorough inquiry into what happened, including whether there were orders from above.

There needs to be a comprehensive review and renovation of the military's medical system. The problems inherent with a system staffed largely by short-term medical draftees and complicated care procedures have been noted for years, but those problems have still not been fixed. Regular enlisted soldiers have an outrageously hard time getting access to medical care. The medical welfare of enlisted recruits is dealt with as a procurement issue like supplies and personnel. It is frustrating to have to wonder when the military will stop the old habit of looking at regular soldiers as consumables. If it continues the way it has, it will be unable to stop similar cases from taking place. Recently the military came up with the slogan "The kind of military you want to join, the kind of military you want to send your son to" and released plans on improving the quality of life. It should start by understanding the reality faced by parents who have to implore children being inducted to keep from getting sick.

They say that in the wake of the No case there has been an outpouring of complaints by soldiers suffering from serious illnesses and aftereffects of disease. There are claims that someone with an advanced form of cancer was, even after a biopsy, judged to have an ulcer, and that someone with pancreatitis was erroneously declared to have enteritis. The military needs to ease their anger and make it possible to receive compensation. Young people who have performed their military duties must not be made to return to society in a state of sickness.

The Hankyoreh, 8 November 2005.

[Translations by Seoul Selection]