The China Medical Board’s Support for Medical Education at Kyungpook National University and Its Implications in Korea, 1953-1974

This study investigates the case of the U.S. China Medical Board (CMB) educational assistance to Kyungpook National University (KNU), School of Medicine from 1953 to 1974 and analyzes its implications. Higher education and medical education have been centered in Seoul since the time of liberation, and the majority of educational support has remained within this framework. From 1953 to 1974, the CMB of the Rockefeller Foundation provided educational assistance to the KNU School of Medicine in Daegu, which was unusual under the circumstances. This study will concentrate on KNU and examine the development of educational assistance. The first period of CMB support for KNU lasted from 1953 to 1965, while the second lasted from 1966 to 1974. The budget for the first half was allocated to the reconstruction of medical education after the Korean War. In contrast, the budget of the second half was allocated to research grants to assist KNU in becoming a research-focused medical school. The case of the suspension and resumption of CMB’s aid to KNU in 1960-1961 due to a school strike will be used to illustrate the relationship between CMB's educational assistance and the U.S.-led Cold War order.