NHRCK notes that preventative and remedial measures for tinnitus victims who got injured during conducting military service are needed. In this regard, NHRCK recommended the Government to take actions as the following :
① Minister of National Defense should conduct a research on tinnitus victims who got the symptom as a result of military service in order to identify the number of victims, and range and types of damage. Furthermore, a “Hearing Ability Protecting Program for Soldiers” for the prohibition of tinnitus symptom needs to be implemented.
② Minister of Patriots & Veterans Affairs should ease conditions of burden of proof on the victim’s side for the benefit of medical compensation and the registration criteria of a man of national merit.
On June 2010, the “Association of Tinnitus Victims from Military Service” filed a petition before NHRCK claiming that “an appropriate mechanism for compensation and prevention against tinnitus caused during military period should be formulated since existing criteria for granting the status of men of national merit are not in favor of tinnitus victims. This is why many applicants suffering from tinnitus are rejected for the grant of status. Preventative and remedial measures for tinnitus caused during military service must be introduced.”
In this regard, NHRCK conducted policy review according to Article 25(1) of the National Human Rights Commission Act based on the decision that many citizens claim their suffering from the disease after military service and relevant support is insufficient.
However, there is no government official record for victims of tinnitus as a result of military service as opposed to the U.S, Canada and Australia where 9.5% of former military men reportedly have hearing disability and the most popular type of pension appear to be tinnitus or hearing difficulty. In Korea, only 309 persons out of 17 million former military men were recognized as a victim of tinnitus and granted a man of national merit status since the establishment of the Republic of Korea whereas 1,933 persons per year (2009~2010) were diagnosed as tinnitus in Canada. Taking into consideration research and cases in other countries, it is reasonable to believe significant number of tinnitus victims exist in Korea.
Furthermore, research by the Patriot and Veterans Administration Agency shows that tinnitus and depression are highly related and thus a group of serious tinnitus patients is likely to suffer from depression as well.
In light of aforementioned issues, a national on-site investigation on the extent of tinnitus damage is required and preventative and remedial measures should be subsequently established.
