Anyone writing for English-language newspapers will from now on have to take extra care in differentiating the two schools of medicine in this country, the traditional and Western disciplines. A newly-coined English term for traditional medicine has become the subject of yet another dispute between the two divisions in the healing profession in an extension of their endless turf war.

What started the new round of contention was the decision by the association of doctors practicing the traditional kind of medicine in its general convention of delegates last month to describe their profession as “Korean medicine” instead of the previously-used terms of “Korean Oriental medicine” or “Oriental medicine.” The decision means that the organization will now be officially called the Association of Korean Medicine in English.

The Korea Medical Association, the body of medical doctors and professors of Western medicine, instantly raised objection on the grounds that the new English term for the “hanbang” (Korean traditional medicine) sounded like it represents the whole medical service in Korea while “in fact it plays only a supplementary part” in the treatment of illness.

Noh Hwan-kyu, leader of the National Union of Korean (Western) Medical Doctors made up solely of practicing doctors, staged a one-man demonstration in front of the Association of Korean Medicine building in western Seoul, protesting the change of the English title. His picket read: “‘Han’ doctors, stop posturing as medical practitioners. You are cheating people!”

Noh’s solitary action must have helped him win support from other Western medicine doctors as he was elected president of the KMA on March 25, a week after the demonstration. He had earned notoriety when he attacked KMA president Kyung Man-ho with eggs and fish sauce during a convention in December 2011. Kyung and Noh reconciled earlier this month and the ethics committee withdrew its punishment of Noh, who will take office on May 1 for a three-year term.

One can only guess the relation between the internal politics of the KMA and its objection to the traditional medical doctors’ new English title, but many people feel uncomfortable at the ceaseless, rather aggravated disputes between the two professional fields, both supposedly dedicated to public wellbeing. Feuds were not limited to the Western and traditional medicines but have developed between the medical and pharmaceutical services, and even between licensed and unlicensed acupuncturists.

Western medicine was introduced to Korea late in the 19th century, when Dr. Horace Allen practiced it as a Christian missionary from America. With the rise of Western cultural influence in the following decades, Western medicine took the center stage, pushing aside the traditional medical art which in the past lacked systematic education and licensing procedures.

From around the 1980s, traditional healers, originally called Han (漢, Chinese) doctors, began reasserting their professional identity, changing the Chinese character to 韓, which means Korean but has the same pronunciation. The popularity of traditional medicine grew as an alternative to Western medicine and the division between the two fields blurred as the Han doctors increasingly used medical instruments and methods developed in the West.

Practitioners of Western medicine have felt their domain under threat. Controversies gripped medical circles whenever the government took steps to expand medical welfare with the competing sectors desperate not to be disadvantaged. The revision to the Law on the Fostering of the “Han” Medical and Pharmaceutical Services last year particularly alerted the Western practitioners, hence their sharp reaction to the English title change.

In our opinion, the term “Korean medicine” is not adequate, as it could indicate “medical practice in Korea” rather than Korean-originated medicine. It is recommended that they call their trade Korean traditional medicine and their fraternity the Association of Korean Traditional Medicine, if they do not want to be described as “Chinese” or “Oriental.” If the indigenous medicine secures the mainstream position in Korean society, it could still be proudly called Korean traditional medicine.

As for those who teach and practice Western medicine, they have no right to look down upon their counterparts in traditional medicine. They should rather be prepared for the eventual integration of the two medical disciplines, which need to help each other to fight diseases.