Two Koreas, war and health

Abstract

Despite news in the morning of missile attack threats by North Korea and associated countermeasures by South Korea, like most South Koreans I spend a peaceful weekend playing with my kids at a playground. I hear from my father, who recently moved from the southernmost island to Seoul, that he was treated for lunch by his elderly neighbours seeking information about the island in case of evacuation. Although living on the Korean peninsula has been implied to be very dangerous in the international media, the South Korean people have been rather calm, as they have already spent their lifetime under such sustained tensions and war threats. While assuming that verbal provocations by North Korea may not have any significant health impacts, as an epidemiology and public health researcher I reflect on how the Korean War (1950–53) and subsequent political situation have affected the health of the two Koreas, what lessons there would be for international research communities from comparison studies of the two Koreas, and what should be the appropriate response of public health professionals to a potential war.