Yoon Sung-chan, president of the Association of Korean Medicine, speaks during a press conference at the Press Center in Seoul, Tuesday. Newsis

Practitioners of traditional Korean medicine vowed on Tuesday to actively use X-ray devices in patient treatment following a recent court ruling that affirmed their right to utilize the technology.

Speaking at a press conference, leaders of the Association of Korean Medicine, which represents 30,000 practitioners nationwide, welcomed the ruling and urged the government to amend regulations to formally recognize their right to use X-ray technology.

Under current regulations, traditional Korean medicine practitioners are not included among the professionals authorized to manage X-ray device safety, unlike doctors, dentists and radiology technologists.

“Providing the best possible medical services by using the up-to-date technology is our right and duty,” Jung Yoo-ong, deputy chief of the organization, said at the Press Center in Seoul.

He said that he, along with some other senior members, will install X-ray equipment and use it to treat their patients — despite the fact that it could put them in legal trouble for violating the government's rule.

According to the group, an appeals court recently upheld the lower court verdict that found a traditional medicine practitioner not guilty of violating the Medical Service Act for employing a device that uses X-rays to measure bone density and strength.

In the ruling, the court said it is difficult to conclude that practitioners of traditional Korean medicine are excluded from the category of “others” on the government's list.

Following the prosecution's decision not to bring the case to the Supreme Court, the ruling has been finalized.

“Thanks to the verdict, traditional Korean medicine practitioners have been granted permission to use X-rays at their workplaces. But in practice, it is difficult for them to install such equipment, with the rule remaining unchanged,” the group said in a statement. “By including practitioners of Korean medicine in the list immediately, the government aims to avoid unnecessary confusion.”

The group said the rule revision would benefit many of their patients by saving time and money. Sometimes it is difficult to tell whether a patient is suffering from a sprain or bone fracture. In such cases, the patient has to visit a clinic just to get X-ray pictures and return to the traditional clinic for treatment, the group noted.

According to a survey conducted in 2022 by Realmeter, a pollster, 84.8 percent of 3,000 respondents said they were in favor of allowing practitioners of Korean medicine to use modern medical equipment such as X-ray machines.

“In Taiwan, which has a similar health care system to Korea, practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine have been allowed to use four types of modern medical devices, including X-rays,” the association said.

The group's decision to pressure the government to change the rule is rekindling a feud with physician groups over the right to use modern technology.

In a statement issued later that day, the Korean Medical Association (KMA), the country's largest doctors' group, accused the traditional medicine association of misinterpreting the ruling.

"The ruling was to determine whether the Korean medicine practitioners who used the BGM-6 device were subject to criminal penalties for violating the Medical Act," the KMA said. "The court concluded that they were not subject to criminal penalties. The decision was not about whether it is permissible for traditional medicine practitioners to use medical devices."