1.  What is the National Health Insurance in Korea?

To enhance the public health and strengthen social security, the national health insurance provides health care benefits against illnesses and injuries for insured persons. Insured persons under the NHI program are classified into two categories: the employed insured and the self-employed insured.  Anyone who has resided in Korea for longer than 3 months and is either employed by a company or self-employed is required to have NHI.  If you enter Korea and then later become employed or self-employed NHI contributions will be retroactive, regardless of the day you sign up for NHI.  

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Currently, there are no compulsory vaccinations are required to enter South Korea.  However, particulary in the summer time, you may have a higher risk of contracting these seasonal diseases:

1.   H1N1 Flu: Swine flu

Background

Novel influenza A (H1N1) is a new flu virus of swine origin that first caused illness in Mexico and the United States in March and April, 2009. It’s thought that novel influenza A (H1N1) flu spreads in the same way that regular seasonal influenza viruses spread, mainly through the coughs and sneezes of people who are sick with the virus, but it may also be spread by touching infected objects and then touching your nose or mouth. Novel H1N1 infection has been reported to cause a wide range of flu-like symptoms, including fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headache, chills and fatigue. In addition, many people also have reported nausea, vomiting and/or diarrhea.

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