Hansen's Disease Museum at Sorokdo National Hospital marks 10th anniversary with academic conference on medicine, history

The Hansen's Disease Museum at Sorokdo National Hospital in Goheung, South Jeolla Province [Korea Museum Association]
The Hansen's Disease Museum at Sorokdo National Hospital in Goheung, South Jeolla Province [Korea Museum Association]

The Hansen's Disease Museum at Sorokdo National Hospital will hold an academic conference Friday at the auditorium of Korea National Open University in Jongno-gu, Seoul, to mark the museum's 10th anniversary. The event is co-organized with the Korean Society for the History of Medicine.

The conference, themed "Disease, Memory and History," is designed to examine the traces and social legacy of Hansen's disease throughout human history from medical and historical perspectives.

The program is divided into a morning planning session and afternoon open presentations.

The morning session, titled "Disease, Memory and History," will cover shifts and expansions in the study of disease history, the preservation and use of Hansen's disease-related records in Japan, and the experience of the National Leprosarium in the United States — exploring the history of disease from an international perspective.

That will be followed by in-depth presentations and discussions on the value of patient card records held at Sorokdo National Hospital, historical accounts of Sorokdo and the life memories of Hansen's disease patients, and the broader legacy of Hansen's disease in East Asia.

The afternoon open presentations, organized under the theme "Disease and Humanity, Medicine and the State," will feature research analyzing the experiences, memories and personal histories of Hansen's disease patients.

The conference is open to researchers and professionals in related fields, as well as members of the general public with an interest in disease and human history.

Jung Chung-hyun, director of Sorokdo National Hospital, said he hoped the conference would go beyond sharing accumulated research findings and become an opportunity for scholars to exchange ideas and discover new questions and avenues for study. "I expect it will contribute to deepening our understanding of Hansen's disease patients and their lives, and to passing on the historical significance of that experience to our society and future generations," Jung said.


thlee@heraldcorp.com