Viagra was for altitude sickness: Cheong Wa Dae

The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said Wednesday that the Viagra which it had purchased last year was a medical provision for possible high-altitude sickness during President Park Geun-hye’s overseas trips.

“Viagra was purchased ahead of (Park’s) visit to African states (in May this year) in preparation for altitude sickness, but the president did not take it,” the Blue House spokesperson Jung Youn-kuk told reporters.

During Park’s trip to South American states late last year, other medicines for altitude sickness turned out insufficient, which is why the Blue House decided upon the prescription of its medical staff to purchase Viagra as a pre-emptive measure, he added.

The spokesman’s explanation came in the wake of reports that the presidential office had purchased a number of “unexplained” medicines, including the representative male erectile dysfunction cure.

In May, Park went on a trip to Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya, located some 1,000 to 2,000 kilometers above sea level.

According to data submitted by the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service to Rep. Kim Sang-hee of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, the president’s office purchased in November last year 60 pills of Viagra, along with other anesthetic drugs.

By Bae Hyun-jung / (tellme@heraldcorp.com)