A debate about telemedicine in South Korea

In 2002 the introduction of a telemedicine clause into the Medical Law allowed telemedicine consults between physicians and health care providers. The Korean government decided to launch a pilot program to provide online health services for people who resided in rural or remote areas such as island dwellers, prisoners, soldiers, and the crew of a pelagic trawler in 2014. However, since the accessibility to medical facilities has been well-established in South Korea, it was hard to determine whether the pilot programs, in terms of safety, were successful or not. The majority of people argue that telemedicine should be performed by medical professionals only for achieving accessibility. Nonetheless, if telemedicine were proven to be useful with respect to safety and validity, then broadening the application of telemedicine between physicians and patients may need reconsideration.