The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW previously MW,
Korean: 보건복지부;
Hanja: 保健福祉部) is a branch of the
government of South Korea. The headquarters is in
Sejong City.[1] Previously the headquarters were on floors 6 through 12 of the
Hyundai Building in
Jongno District,
Seoul, when they were the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs.[2]
However, on March 19, 2010, the Ministry was reorganized to become the Ministry of Health and Welfare while transferring their responsibilities of overseeing
youth and
family affairs to
Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. However, the Ministry of Health and Welfare still governs Children's affairs.[4]
With the lessons learned from the
COVID-19 pandemic, the legislation has been introduced and passed to expand one of its child agencies,
Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, into Korea Disease Control and Prevention Administration and to equip the Ministry with two Vice-Ministers - one responsible for welfare and the other public health.[5] These changes will come to effect on 12 September 2020.[6]
Work
The main tasks include health care and quarantine, compulsory administration, pharmacist administration, health insurance, basic living insurance, welfare support, social security and social service policies, and population policy to cope with low birth rate and aging child welfare.[7]
^"
Location." (
Archive) Ministry of Health and Welfare. Retrieved on January 1, 2014. "13, Doum 4-ro, Sejong 339-012, Korea"
^"
Location." () Ministry of Health and Welfare. Retrieved on January 1, 2014. "Ministry of Health & Welfare Hyundai Building 6~12 F" and "Ministry of Health & Welfare (MW) : 75 Yulgok-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, Korea 110-793, call center 129"