After Korea’s liberation from the Japanese occupation, a person named Gang Pil-mo joined the Oriental Medicine Association to practice medicine as well as promote his proposal of how to ‘modernize’ traditional Korean medicine, and develop it into a form of ‘science.’ His practices were centered around scientific verification of traditional Korean medicinal theories, and more particularly on developing prescriptions produced via traditional Korean medicine. The scientific information set utilized for such verification was no other than western medicine, which was deemed as an absolute criterion in developing something into science.
The proposal of Gang Pil-mo formed an important axis in the discussion of developing traditional Korean medicine into science, which began to flourish after the liberation. The proposal of Gang Pil-mo was especially meaningful because it expressed an interest in technologies beyond theories, while most of the other arguments regarding western and oriental medicines of the 1930∼40s were stuck in debating whether or not the value of traditional Korean medicine should be respected and accepted. Considering that medicine is only important when it could be applied to real-life practice, practical considerations on the scientific nature of traditional Korean medicine as well as all the down-to-earth measures proposed by Gang Pil-mo were nothing but significant to say the very least.
However, as he had doubts in the traditional theory involving Yin and Yang figures and also the so-called Five Elements in particular, he tried to create an entirely new set of medicine through his scientific verification. In other words, he never fully accepted traditional Korean medicine, which was to him a subject that required verification. This was also why he emphasized the importance of establishing hospitals where clinical trials can be done, as he believed that verification through clinical trials could be a practical option which would be chosen by western practitioners who were interested in traditional Korean medicine.
Because Gang Pil-mo recommended western medicine as an absolute criterion, his proposal can be evaluated as reflecting the medical reality of Korea at the time, which was led by western medicine. Furthermore, his view and proposal shows us the nature of the Korean society at the time, which was witnessing the thriving western civilization at its doorstep in the form of medicine, and we can see that traditional Korean medicine at the time had no other option but to depend on western medicine for its own very survival and advancements.