#002 Health, Politics, and Covid with Kwak Yong-hwan

In this episode of Korea Deconstructed, Kwak Yong-hwan, a certified medical doctor at Soonchunhyang University Hospital, discusses the changing trends in Korean health over time. He also explains how the current system, which benefits the customers and citizens, is based on prices set by the government which often cause hardships for doctors. The result of this is that more and more medical professionals are leaving healthcare and venturing into the aesthetic industry to make more money.  Beyond this, he discusses the politics of alternative traditional medicine before going on to suggest what he believes are the most important reasons behind Korea's relatively successful attempts at combating the Covid-19 pandemic. The conversation ends with his views on the popular local medical drama Hospital Playlist and how closely it resembles real life.