일제강점기 順化院의 설립과 운용

The Establishment and Operation of Sunhwaweon during the Japanese Colonial Rule

Sunhwaweon (順化院) is a representative hospital specialized in treating infectious diseases that was established and operated during the Japanese colonial rule. Sunhwaweon that had been set up after a cholera epidemic in 1909 was an infirmary that received patients with infectious diseases by priority before being turned into a representative hospital specialized in treating epidemics during the Japanese colonial rule and a hospital specialized in treating tuberculosis patients after the liberation of Korea from the Japanese colonial rule. When cholera was running rampant in 1909, Hanseong (漢城) was hit the hardest, and Hanseongwisaenghoe (漢城衛生會) found it necessary to establish a well-equipped infirmary that could accommodate Koreans and the Japanese. Accordingly, construction of a hospital was initiated in 1910, and it was completed in July 1911. The infirmary was named Sunhwaweon after its location and capable of accommodating about 100 patients. When Sunhwaweon was established, it aimed to accommodate and treat patients with infectious diseases that occurred within Gyeongseongbu (京城府). Those who lived outside Gyeongseongbu were allowed to be admitted if they wanted, but discriminating hospital bills were applied to them. As it was established to treat both Korean and Japanese patients with infectious diseases from the beginning, the two peoples were accommodated together. As Sunhwaweon was a Gyeongseong’s representative hospital specialized in treating infectious diseases during the Japanese colonial rule, patients with various epidemics were accommodated. If epidemics were running rampant, the hospital was forced to accommodate patients beyond its capacity, so many argued for expanding the hospital. If one takes a close look at the foundation and activity of Sunhwaweon, he or she can easily figure out the current state of infectious diseases in Korea during the Japanese colonial rule and after the liberation of Korea from the Japanese colonial rule in addition to governmental medical policy by period. Japan took preventive measures against epidemics by mobilizing the military and the police during the Residency-General (統監府) Period and the Government-General (總督府) Period. The preventive measures against epidemics that were taken after 1905 indicated some sort of modernity when a specialized infirmary was established and quarantine was conducted based on laws and regulations on the surface. However, legislation of laws and establishment of systems under a particular circumstance characterized by the Japanese colonial rule led the colonial power to control and suppress the public resulting in compliant Koreans during the Japanese colonial rule.