Blood sugar drops to 43 mg/dL, oxygen saturation falls sharply
Democratic Party lawmakers from South Jeolla, Gwangju call for major expansion of western-region medical infrastructure
Rep. Kim Won-i of the Democratic Party of Korea was rushed to hospital Monday after her health deteriorated on the 11th day of a hunger strike.
According to Yonhap, Kim's blood sugar level fell to 43 mg/dL and her oxygen saturation dropped sharply that day.
That afternoon, Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok visited Kim's protest site at the National Assembly and strongly urged her to end the fast. Lawmakers representing South Jeolla Province and Gwangju constituencies also visited and asked her to stop.
Kim agreed to end the hunger strike and was transported to hospital by ambulance.
Democratic Party lawmakers from South Jeolla Province and Gwangju constituencies called on the government and the proposed Jeonnam-Gwangju integrated special city to significantly expand medical infrastructure in the western region, including Mokpo, after the area failed to secure a national medical school.
Speaking at Kim's protest site, the lawmakers said the hunger strike was meant to represent the desperate wishes of residents in the western part of South Jeolla Province and Gwangju. "The sense of loss residents feel over the failure to secure a national medical school, and their concern about the resulting gap in medical care, is deeply serious," they said.
They said it is no longer acceptable to leave residents on remote islands and in isolated areas of the western region without even basic emergency treatment, causing them to miss the critical window for survival. "It is the state's clear duty to protect the public by swiftly expanding the severe emergency medical system for conditions such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease," they added.
The lawmakers also said comprehensive development measures are needed to revitalize the region's lagging economy alongside improvements to medical infrastructure. They called for a package covering the attraction of advanced industries, training of skilled workers and improvements to living conditions.
They called on the government and the integrated city to "mobilize every available policy tool and promptly draw up and announce effective measures that residents of the western region can actually feel."
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party's Jeonnam-Gwangju integrated city chapter has formed a task force on expanding medical infrastructure in the western region following the collapse of the national medical school plan.
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