Seoul doctor marks 53 years of free care for city's poorest

Dr. Ko Young-cho, a 73-year-old physician, has spent 53 years providing free medical care to Seoul's most vulnerable residents — shantytown dwellers, homeless people and undocumented migrants — through a clinic that now treats more than 100 patients daily.

Ko's five decades of work illustrate how healthcare gaps persist even as welfare systems expand — a reality that resonates for Korean Americans in Orange County who track public health equity on both sides of the Pacific.

Ko began his free medical work as a medical student in 1973, traveling to remote rural villages that had no health insurance system. "It was a time when there was no national health insurance," he told Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times. "Because the villages were remote, I got off the bus and walked while carrying a heavy medical box filled with surgical instruments. Rope marks remained on my hands, but even that did not feel hard. From then on, service was my calling."

Joseph Clinic opened in 1987 in the Sillim-dong neighborhood, founded by Sunwoo Kyung-sik. Ko, the clinic's fifth director and its only full-time physician, oversees 130 volunteer doctors rotating through 15 departments, according to The Korea Times. More than 10,000 sponsors and 600 volunteers support the clinic's daily operations.

On a recent house call to a cramped shack in the Dongja-dong jjokbangchon — a shantytown district home to roughly 3,000 residents — Ko treated Ji, 55, for high blood pressure. "Your blood pressure is still high. I won't tell you to stop drinking right away," Ko said. "Until I come next time, let's try cutting it down to just one bottle a week." Ji responded: "I still think about drinking, but thanks to you, doctor, I'm better than before."

Ko said the need for his clinic has not eased despite a stronger public welfare system. "Some people ask whether a hospital like this is still necessary when the welfare system has improved. But things feel different on the ground," he said. "The sad reality is that people in difficult situations are reluctant to go to general hospitals, and hospitals do not welcome them either."

A devout Catholic who once considered the priesthood, Ko said witnessing displacement during Seoul's urban redevelopment in the 1970s deepened his sense of vocation. Drawing on Matthew 25:40, he described a shift in how he sees patients: "After that day, I came to examine every patient with all my heart, seeing each one as a small image of Jesus." He has since recruited more than 50 fellow physicians into free medical volunteering. The South Korean government honored Ko in 2012, 2021 and 2024; he donated all prize money to hospitals. During the 2024 trainee doctor walkout that disrupted hospitals nationwide, former students joined him on outreach rounds among the unhoused.

Ko has treated more than 30,000 patients over five decades. "What jjokbangchon residents and homeless people need more than medicine is encouragement," he said. "When you listen to their stories, their eyes change. I simply convey the heart that says, 'We are by your side, so let's try to live with just a little more strength.'"