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Korean medical personnel migrated across the globe since 1964, including Africa. However, analyses of the transnational nature of Korean medicine have largely focused on the influence of Korea as a recipient, particularly the United States. This study attempts to understand the formation of Korean medicine in a wider geographical space, beyond the entrenched dichotomy of donor and recipient countries, which has often been centered on the United States or Japan. This paper examines how the diplomatic competition between North and South Korea unfolded in the geopolitical context of the Cold War and how medicine was mobilized to achieve its goals. In the 1960s, medical diplomacy was effective in establishing diplomatic relations and gaining the cooperation of recipient ‘Third World’ countries. In the 1970s, however, South Korea's episodic medical aid was no longer well-received in the face of aggressive North Korean aid, and South Korean medical missions became more of an ‘export’ rather than ‘cooperation’.

Objective: Field trips to disaster-affected areas (FTDAs) without a specific purpose, such as medical cooperation, are widely used in medical education. However, what medical students gain from FTDAs remains unclear. The present study aimed to clarify what medical students gain from FTDAs. Five medical students who had visited the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan participated in a semi-structured group interview to ask what they gained from such a visit. The narratives were analysed using open coding. Results: The following four themes emerged: "Spirit of scientific inquiry", "Foundation for lifelong education and personal growth", "Broadened understanding of the medical profession", and "Importance of practicing medicine in the community setting". The ambiguity of medical students' specific roles in the field trip compared to the fieldwork may have encouraged them to make sense of the experience from their perspective. As a result, students may have gained a broader perspective of their future work and career through the FTDA. If medical educators can gain consensus from the residents of a disaster site, different disaster-affected areas can be potential sites for medical education using FTDAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]