Oriental doctors run ‘K-Haneui Pavilion’ at APEC venue, angering medical community

The Association of Korean Medicine (AKOM) operates the “K-Haneui Healthcare Pavilion” at the APEC venue in Gyeongju, 370km southwest of Seoul, featuring ultrasound devices and sparking a rapid backlash from the medical community. (Courtesy of AKOM).

The medical community is vehemently protesting after learning that oriental medicine practitioners installed ultrasound diagnostic equipment in their promotional pavilion for the 2025 APEC Summit in Gyeongju.

The Association of Korean Medicine (AKOM), a group of traditional Korean medicine practitioners, issued a news release on Wednesday, saying, “To support the success of the APEC 2025 event, we will operate the ‘K-Haneui (Korean medicine) Healthcare Pavilion’ at the Gyeongju Expo Grand Park.”

The association described the pavilion as a venue for directly observing and experiencing contemporary oriental medicine’s diagnostic and therapeutic techniques, including acupuncture, moxibustion, herbal medicine, and diagnostic tools such as ultrasound. The AKOM press release also highlighted ultrasound diagnostic imagery.

The medical community issued an immediate response.

On Friday, the Korean Medical Association (KMA)’s Special Committee on Oriental Medicine demanded the immediate shutdown of the K-Haneui Healthcare Pavilion. It further urged an on-site inspection and administrative action from the government.

The KMA stated, “Oriental medicine practitioners’ use of ultrasound for diagnosis clearly violates current laws and Supreme Court precedents. Performing diagnostic acts like ultrasound, and offering treatment without a legal basis, risks international misunderstanding and undermines trust in our healthcare system.”

The KMA cited the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that acquitted an oriental medicine practitioner for using ultrasound, noting that it only partially permits ultrasound for aiding oriental medical diagnosis, not for treatment or modern medical diagnosis.

“Using these devices beyond supplementary diagnosis in oriental medicine amounts to unauthorized medical practice. Nevertheless, the oriental medicine sector is misled by suggesting unrestricted use of ultrasound diagnostic technology,” the KMA said. “This claim is utterly baseless.”

The KMA panel also pressed the government to “immediately investigate the actual activities of healthcare centers promoting the ambiguous ‘K-Haneui’ and implement administrative sanctions.”

It said a clear decision is needed on whether oriental medicine practitioners’ use of ultrasound violates the Medical Service Act.

“The oriental medicine community is deceiving the public and the international community by ignoring health and safety, misreading laws and precedents, and suggesting modern medicine can be practiced,” the committee stated. “We will oppose all such attempts.”