http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2006/12/18/20061218004
8.asp


Seoul's move to open its market for Oriental medicine has set off
fierce protest from local doctors who are concerned about increased
competition in an already saturated market.
The Association of Korean Oriental Medicine yesterday said that it
would organize an emergency taskforce to block the market opening
currently under discussion between Korea and the United States as
part of their negotiations for a free trade agreement.


Washington has reportedly demanded the two nations allow oriental
doctors to practice freely in either country.

Seoul has also demanded mutual recognition of business qualifications
in 17 professions including medical doctors, nurses, architects and
engineers.

Doctors fear that the deal would open the way for not only U.S.-based
doctors, but Chinese doctors to flood in the domestic market.

If Korea accepts the U.S. request, they said, the country will face
similar pressure in future free trade talks with China, whose
Oriental medicine sector is regarded as far more competitive than
Korea's.

"We will use every means possible to fend off the government's
irresponsible move that will take public health hostage," the lobby
for Oriental medicine doctors said in a statement.

The group said the agreement would threaten the health of Korean
people, claiming that American Oriental doctors receive less training
than their Korean counterparts.

American Oriental doctors study for three or four years - which is
shorter than Korea's six-year curriculum. In Korea, entering Oriental
medicine schools is highly competitive, while it is considered to be
not quite so challenging in the United States.

There is also a glut in the Oriental medicine market, the association
said. In Korea, there are some 17,000 Oriental medical doctors.

The number of Oriental doctors in the United States is estimated to
exceed 60,000, with Korean-Americans accounting for 16,000 and
Chinese-Americans for 20,000. Some 49 universities in the United
States grant acupuncture and Oriental medicine degrees.

The bilateral agreement is expected to shake up the domestic Oriental
medical market which has been dominated by graduates of 11 Oriental
medicine universities in Korea. American doctors with Korean and
Chinese ethnic backgrounds are likely to rush to Korea where Oriental
doctors enjoy high social status and make decent money.

Despite a backlash from Oriental doctors, the government is moving to
strike so-called mutual recognition agreements with the United
States.

"It is hard to reject the only demand the United States makes
regarding the MRA while we are calling for the MRA in 17 fields," a
government official was quoted as saying by Yonhap News.

The Korea-U.S. FTA talks were originally slated to have been
completed in the fifth round, which ended Dec. 8. But another round
has been set for Jan. 16 as the negotiations hit an impasse over two
hotly debated issues - U.S. anti-dumping laws and patent protections
for U.S. pharmaceutical companies.

Korea is the seventh-largest market for the United States, with
bilateral trade amounting to $72 billion last year. The United States
is South Korea's second-largest export market, accounting for 17
percent of its total shipments.

(hjjin@...)


By Jin Hyun-joo




2006.12.18