SOUTH KOREA : Healers Shave Heads in Medicine Dispute
Hundreds of traditional healers shaved their heads in a long-simmering dispute over control of South Korea’s multimillion-dollar herbal medicine market. Thirty others were on the 13th day of a hunger strike. The dispute, which began in 1993, is over whether pharmacists should be allowed to prescribe traditional methods--some using herbs, animal parts and acupuncture--which many South Koreans prefer to Western-based treatments. The latest protest brought to 1,500 the total number of doctors who have shaved their hair in the dispute.
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