Assemblyman So Byeong-cheol Strongly Urges Fair Treatment for War Veterans and National Merit Recipients

Need for Medical Service Standardization Between Veterans Hospitals and Contracted Hospitals

[Suncheon=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Hyung-kwon] Democratic Party lawmaker So Byeong-cheol (Suncheon, Gwangyang, Gokseong, Gurye (Gap)) emphasized the role of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs to honor and uphold the dignity of war veterans and beneficiaries who devoted themselves to the country during the National Assembly Judiciary Committee plenary session, pointing out the unreasonable realities of medical services and allowances, and strongly urged for appropriate treatment on the 25th.

Lawmaker So pointed out to Park Min-sik, head of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, “The Ministry operates the veterans hospitals and commissioned hospitals separately, but there is severe discrimination in medical services. Some places are doing well, but there are many complaints about those that are not,” emphasizing, “This needs to be carefully managed.”

Director Park responded, “The roles of veterans hospitals and commissioned hospitals are very important in taking care of the health and old age of those who sacrificed and devoted themselves to the country,” adding, “As you pointed out, we plan to create an advanced system.”

Furthermore, Lawmaker So said, “Those who sacrificed for the country deserve better medical services than profit-driven hospitals. It is unacceptable for the quality of care to be a matter of luck depending on which hospital they visit,” emphasizing, “The management system should be reviewed once again to ensure an average level of medical service,” to which Director Park replied, “Understood.”

Additionally, Lawmaker So pointed out the issue of differences in allowance amounts paid by local governments to war veterans and beneficiaries.

So said, “The amounts of veterans’ allowances vary greatly by local government, with the maximum difference reaching about two to three times,” highlighting the problem and emphasizing, “The allowances given to war veterans and beneficiaries are the nation’s reward, but recipients have many complaints due to large regional differences.”

So pointed out, “While some regions provide 200,000 to 300,000 won, others give only around 100,000 won, causing a kind of discrimination,” and noted, “The national average is about 150,000 won, but Suncheon currently provides about 100,000 won,” criticizing that the allowance in the Suncheon area is even lower than the national average.

He added, “Whether through guidelines for allowance payments or system improvements, solutions should be prepared when the National Assembly allocates the budget.”

Director Park agreed with Lawmaker So’s criticism, saying, “People often say, ‘We fought for the country similarly, so why the discrimination?’ which causes a lot of relative deprivation,” and responded, “As you pointed out, although it is difficult to enforce this as an autonomous local government task, we will establish guidelines to reduce large differences among local governments and report on institutional improvements.”

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