Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
After legal revisions that basically gave electronic records the same status as the paper ver-
sions, most South Korean hospitals have shifted to computer-based patient information sys-
tems. Hospitals are obligated to provide patients with medical records or transfer them to
other hospitals or doctors on request, but only international clinics will be able to provide
records in languages other than Korean.
HEALTH HAZARDS
Despite the national affection for insalubrious indulgences like alcohol and cigar-
ettes, South Koreans on the whole are a health-conscious people, mindful of what
they eat and regularly setting aside time for exercise. They've also amassed quite a
list over the years of seemingly innocuous things that absolutely must be avoided as
they're believed to be harmful or even fatal—much to the confusion and amusement
of some expatriates.
The most prominent example of this is the dreaded “fan death.” Leaving a fan
on overnight in a room with no open doors or windows is generally considered to
be potentially lethal. This is not your typical urban legend, but “common” medical
knowledge perpetuated by some health authorities and the media, who, each summer,
diligently report cases of people perishing of fan exposure.
Several theories have been advanced as to why the combination is so dangerous,
the most popular being that the fan's motion creates a “vortex” that sucks oxygen
from the air and leads to asphyxiation, or that sustained exposure to the wind created
by the fan triggers hypothermia. Research, mainly done overseas, has yet to find any
conclusive links between fans and these kinds of conditions, but that has done little
to assuage the fears of South Koreans, who will sometimes argue they're uniquely
susceptible to the fan threat. As a result, virtually all fans sold in South Korea come
equipped with timers that people can set so they don't run all night.
This is far from the only new medical phenomenon foreign residents might come
across. South Koreans are also very cautious about cold water, as many locals believe
it will aggravate coughs or sore throats and is also problematic for digestion. Hence
in many restaurants water or tea is served at room temperature or warm, even when
the weather would seem to call for ice cubes. Eating unpeeled fruit, bathing soon
after an injection, and drinking alcohol without some kind of food to accompany it
