Each year, we are affected by yellow dust, particularly from the end of March to April. Yellow dust mixes with air pollutants that can adversely affect the respiratory tracts and the eyes. What is yellow dust?Yellow dust refers to dust from the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts, other deserts in China and Mongolia, and the upper regions of the Yellow River of China. This dust travels on upper air currents to reach Korea on western winds.The particles range from 10 micrometers, the size of silt, to 100

South Koreans spent an average of more than 1 million won ($930) on medical treatment last year, according to data released Tuesday. The National Health Insurance Service said that some 50 million public insurance subscribers spent about 51 trillion won for medical purposes, up 6.5 percent year-on-year. This means that each Korean paid an average of 85,000 won per month for health care.People over the age of 65 spent about 19 trillion won, accounting for 35.4 percent of the total medical spendin

The Japanese government systematically operated “comfort women” facilities as part of its military “amenities” during World War II, documents showed, contradicting Tokyo’s denial of the wartime sexual enslavement of Asian women.According to declassified documents from the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, the Southeast Asia Translation and Interrogation Center confirmed that the Japanese government had run “comfort women” facilities for the military. The confirmation came while

Concerns about the country’s health services are growing as doctors plan to launch further industrial action later this month, despite stern warnings from the government.On Monday, thousands of doctors staged their first strike in 14 years to protest the government’s push to introduce telemedicine and for-profit subsidiaries for hospitals.President Park Geun-hye warned against doctors joining the nationwide strike, saying their actions were unacceptable and put lives in danger.The Korean Medical

A 35-year-old ethnic Korean from China, identified only by her surname Cho, entered Korea in 2011. Not qualified for the country’s health insurance yet, Cho used her aunt’s social security number to get medical services at a discount. A year later, she was caught by the public insurance agency. Cho’s misguided attempt is just one of a growing number of cases of Korea’s high-quality public health insurance system being exploited. According to the National Health Insurance Service, there were a to

According to the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey, 40 percent of the population is consuming too much or not enough nutrition. Although the intake of protein, iron and vitamins B1 and C is adequate, the average intake of calcium was 84 percent of the recommended amount, whereas the average intake of vitamin A was only 68 percent of the recommendation. Therefore, it is suggested that people consume more dairy products such as milk and cheese, small boned fish, yellow and green v

Repeated hand-washing became a “ritual” for 28-year-old graduate student Kim Ju-eun. Fearing germs, she could not stop herself from washing her hands frantically and frequently. Which made sense when Kim was later diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder, or OCD. The anxiety disorder is characterized by uncontrollable, unwanted thoughts and repetitive behaviors that people feel compelled to perform. The number of patients suffering from the disorder has gone up in recent years, especially am