Denmark Health Minister Magnus Heunicke speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at Grand Hyatt Seoul on Mount Nam, Aug. 29. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Denmark hopes to join hands with Korea in preparing for aging society

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Danish Health Minister Magnus Heunicke asked whether he could take his mask off for photos during an interview with The Korea Times at a hotel in Seoul, Monday.

"We were the first country in Europe to remove all COVID-19 restrictions. We did that actually many months ago and I think, for now, the people of Denmark look at COVID-19 as something that happened to us in the past. People in Denmark feel that we came through this difficult situation in a good way," Heunicke said.

The number of COVID-19 cases spiked immediately after the lift, but new cases are under 1,000 now and Denmark's economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter after the end of COVID-19 restrictions.

Denmark's population is currently 5.8 million, with a size of 42,951 square kilometers, compared to Korea's population of 51.3 million, with a size of 100,363 square kilometers.

Heunicke picked three key factors that helped Denmark overcome the pandemic.

"One is really to move fast. The good thing is that we shared a lot of information with our European neighbors and some of the countries in Europe were hit hard and we could see what happened there. And then we could actually move very fast to introduce measures like masks and other things," he said.

"The other thing is trust from the people in Denmark. They trust the authorities, which is very important. They get vaccinated with very high vaccination rates, especially among the elderly people and the vulnerable people," he said.

To earn and maintain trust from society, Denmark developed a new way of communicating.

"There is so much we don't know about what's going to happen like, 'How severe are these new variants?' There are things we don't know and laid out in the open and we're totally open about all the things we don't know, which could be a little bit frightening as a politician to say," he said.

"But it led us to this conclusion ― things could change and then we'll let you know about that. If we get new information, then we will not hesitate to act on it. It's very important that people have seen that we are ready to move to another direction as soon as we get the data, changing our strategies and policies to the new situation," he said.

The high vaccination rate led to the third key, which was lifting the country's COVID-19 measures before anyone else in Europe.

"That was possible only because of the vaccination (rate)," he said.

However, Heunicke highlighted that it is not an easy task to remind people that this situation is not over yet and Denmark has to be ready for how the situation develops in the future.

"Denmark did quite well in these tasks, but the thing is that we don't know what comes next. A new variant could come and attack us. So we are ready for all sorts of threats that could come," he said.

He also added that each country has to make decisions based on its situation.

"In January, we looked at the data and made this decision (to lift the COVID-19 restrictions) and we are convinced that it was the right decision. But not all countries could do that right away because of different vaccination rates and the different variants each society had," the minister said.

"So, now that we've been in this pandemic situation for a long time, each country is now in a unique situation. So you can compare and share data, but you have to make decisions based upon where you are," the Danish health minister said.

Danish Health Minister Magnus Heunicke listens to Kim Ju-whan, a Korean patient who was treated on the Danish hospital ship Jutlandia during the Korean War, at a memorial for the ship at the National Medical Center in Seoul, Aug. 30. Courtesy of Embassy of Denmark in Korea

Cooperation in 'super hospitals'

The history of Korea's and Denmark's friendship goes back to the 1950-53 Korean War era when the Danish hospital ship Jutlandia traveled to Korea and provided medical support.

After the war, Denmark contributed to the establishment of Korea's National Medical Center, where a memorial for the Jutlandia is located.

During his visit to Korea, Heunicke met Kim Ju-whan, 83, a patient who was treated on the Jutlandia as well.

"In Denmark, everybody knows about Jutlandia. We have a song about it in Denmark and everyone knows about it," he said.

More than seven decades later, Denmark sees more potential in Korea as a partner in finding solutions for healthcare problems shared by the two countries.

"We have a proud history together, helping each other out and trusting each other. The problems that Korea is facing are an aging population and non-infectious diseases. We have a similar situation in Denmark and we work together on finding new solutions, using new kinds of medical treatment. It would be the benefit for both countries," Heunicke said.

Denmark launched a "super hospital" project to restructure its medical system in accordance with the changing social landscape.

"I think we have to remind ourselves that it is actually a good thing that people are getting older. First and foremost, it is really great and beautiful that we are able to live much longer. If we have more healthy years, it would be even better," he said.

"However, it really changes the demands on the healthcare system. And what we see is that the earlier we start prevention measures, the more healthy years you get," he said.

In dealing with an aging society, Denmark recognized the importance of preventive healthcare and integrated that idea into the super hospital system.

"We're building new, highly specialized hospitals and the point is, in Denmark, you get the help you need with highly trained specialists and then go home, not to stay in the hospital. It's a revolution within the thinking of, 'What is a hospital?' and, 'How long should I lie in these beds?'" he said.

"It is really striking to see how modern those buildings are, with new ideas from all over the world, and how the new ways of having hospitals are much smarter and better," he continued.

Heunicke said that Korea's advanced digital technology and smart hospitals could be great partners for Denmark's super hospitals.

"If you look at, for example, digital healthcare solutions, we are really in a revolution ― how we can use AI and how you can get in touch with doctors on your phone. But it's just the beginning," he said.

"Korea is really digitalized and I think we can work together on this aspect. We also have the same problems, so we can work together on those as well," he said.