Abstract
Purpose: Korea, China, and Japan can be seen as a geopolitical community that has developed through various relationships in terms of history. However, nowadays, it seems that they are pursuing different societal goals resulting from the difference in political and social systems, demographic structures, and economic situations. The law provides the minimum standards for people's lives in the direction that the society pursues. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine the architectural differences in medical facilities and their causes comparing the legal standards of medical facilities in Korea, China, and Japan. Methods: The subject of the study is Korea, China, and Japan's legal standards of facilities corresponding to the Korean medical service act; enforcement decree of medical service act; and enforcement rules of medical service act. The scope of the study is as follows: First, the facilities standards and the reason for the revision of the standards after the 1950s when the current system of each country was established are investigated and thus the changing trends of the facilities standards that each country has pursued are analyzed. Second, the range and level presented by the current facilities standards of each country are compared and the differences are analyzed. Finally, cases in which the differences in the legal facilities standards are reflected in the actual design are compared and the effect of the facilities standards of medical facilities on the architectural plan is identified. Results & Implications: Each country differs in the legal standards of facilities because of changes in demographic structure and experience of disease. Moreover, it is identified that differences in social operating systems, especially in the operating methods of medical facilities, affect the range and level enforced by the facility standards. When investigating and researching foreign standards of facilities and cases for foreign medical facilities, it is required that they should be analyzed in consideration of the social and cultural aspects of each country.
