The English-speaking Medical Referral Service operated by the Seoul Global Center has closed.
The center has advised people seeking routine or emergency medical referrals throughout Korea to call 1339, a 24-hour medical referral service available in several languages and operated by the Korean government.
The MRS, which has been operating in Seoul since the 1970’s and was using numbers ending 8212, was terminated on Feb. 28 by the Seoul Metropolitan Government. Calls to the MRS will be re-routed to 1339 for the three months following the closure of the service on Feb. 28.
MRS coordinator Diana Underwood said she had expected the closure to happen at some point, and that while she wasn’t sure the timing was right, she hoped that the new service would do a good job.
“We are saddened by the loss but it’s something that we are prepared to accept,” she said.
“We’ve been very proud to assist the many thousands of callers in finding the best possible care, and hope that this will continue with the 1339 service.”
Underwood expressed disappointment that the information and experience the service had built up over the years had been lost in the process.
She added that she had received several emergency calls in the last few days of the center's operation and was anxious for people to know that the service had been discontinued.
(paulkerry@heraldcorp.com)