• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.159-193
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• 2015

Owing to causes such as population aging, increased use of various medical devices, long-term hospitalization of various patients with reduced immune function such as cancer, diabetes, and organ transplant patients, and the growing size of hospitals, hospital infections are continuing to increase. As seen in the MERS crisis of 2015, hospital infections have become a social and national problem. In order to prevent damage due to such hospital infections, it is necessary to first strictly implement measures to prevent hospital infections, while, on the other hand, providing proper relief of damage suffered due to hospital infections. However, the mainstream attitude of judicial precedents relating to hospital infection cases has been judged to in fact shift responsibility over damages due to hospital infections on the patient. In light of the philosophy of the damage compensation system, whose guiding principle if the fair and proper apportionment of damages, there is a need to seek means of drastically relaxing the burden of proof on the patient's side relative to conventional legal principles for relaxing the burden of proof, or the theory of de facto estimation. In relation to such need, the German civil code (Burgerliches Gesetzbuch), which defines contracts of medical treatment as typical contracts under the civil code, and has presumption of negligence provisions stipulating that, in cases such as hospital infections which were completely under the control of the medical care providers, if risks in general medical treatment have been realized which cause violations of the life, body, or health of patients, error on the part of the person providing medical care is presumed, was examined. Contracts of medical treatment are entered into very frequently and broadly in the everyday lives of the general public, with various disputes owing thereto arising. Therefore, it is necessary to, by defining contracts of medical treatment as typical contracts under the civil code, regulate the content of said contracts, as well as the proof of burden when disputes arise. If stipulations in the civil code are premature as of yet, an option may be to regulate through a special act, as is the case with France. In the case of hospital infection cases, it is thought that 'legal presumption of negligence' relating to 'negligence in the occurrence of hospital infections,' which will create a state close to equality of arms, will aid the resolution of the realistic issue of the de facto impossibility of remedying damages occurring due to negligence in the process of occurrence of hospital infections. Also, even if negligence is presumed by law, as the patient side is burdened with proving the causal relationships, such drastic confusion as would occur if the medical care provider side is found fully liable if a hospital infection occurs may be avoided. It is thought that, alongside such efforts, social insurance policy must be improved so as to cover the expenses of medical institutions having strictly implemented efforts to prevent hospital infections in the event that they have suffered damages due to a hospital infection accident, and that close future research and examination into this matter will be required.

• Sim-seong Yeon-gu
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• v.27 no.1_2
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• pp.1-27
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• 2012

It aims to deal with a topic of coniunctio oppositorum, hieros gamos in a Korean fairytale <Gurungdungdung Sin Seonbi>, in which a human heroine was marrying an animal husband. This Korean fairytale may be compared with Greek mythology <Eros and Psyche> introduced by Apuleius and <Dassingende springende Löweneckerchen> collected by Grimm Brothers. All these fairytales commonly tell that animal husband figures have divine nature. Because animals live their lives totally obeying instincts, the collective unconscious principles of species are completely accomplished. The animal nature excludes ecocentric attitude so that it has transpersonal divinity. The hero is transformed into an animal in the fairytales, which will provide an opportunity to change a one-sided exaggerated attitude of the ego consciousness and acquire universal humanity. During being an animal, the hero would have experienceds to recognize true meaning and value of other living creatures in nature and have attained wisdom of nature. The animal is a symbolic being who will realize value of collective and universal life so as to act therapeutically and contribute to the total personality, individuation processes. Animals in the fairytales correspond to the compensatory contents of the unconscious. Animal figure itself is opposite to the ego consciousness itself because the ego understands the unconscious contents like animal figures have instinctual impulse that the ego will not accept at all. Coniunctio oppositorum in the fairytales is going to show the ego's rendezvous processes to meet the unconscious. The fact that the hero turns into an animal or marries animal partner is a psychic event which greatly lowers under the level of ego consciousness. To overcome the state, it is essential for the hero to regain humanity or to transform animal partner into a human being. By the recovery of humanity or reaching the human level, compensation of the unconscious can be realized in the conscious life. In a Korean fairytale <Gurungdungdung Sin Seonbi>, male partner is a serpent but the heroine marries the serpent and make it cast off skin. Over sufferings and complishment of several tasks, heroine truly meets her husband. In this processes, the heroine obtains divinity. As result, her marriage to animal husband means hieros gamos. In this fairytale, we will be able to look through the ways how female ego-consciousness to make relations to the unconscious and to fulfill individuation.