Abstract
This study focuses on seeking a desirable direction for the discussions about identity issue of the current Traditional Korean Medicine(TKM). The identity issue of the current TKM is about asking what exactly the current TKM is, what sets the TKM apart from the other medical systems, and what value the TKM has in the contemporary settings, and seeking suitable answers to all these questions. The most important factor that affects these answers is what kind of the concept of identity we have. Current discussions of the identity issue of the TKM take narrow and inflexible concepts of identity such as "Numerical Identity," or "Qualitative Identity", not suitable for TKM, which is always changing and open to other academic fields. This study suggests that Hannah Arendt's concept of identity is more desirable for the TKM, which highlights pluralism and relations, as well as defining identity as a creative, positive, and open-ended process. In addition, this study also suggests that taking a closer look at the "field", which has previously been hidden behind the discourse on the "modernization", will help in figuring out what exactly the identity of the current TKM is. Lastly, the current discussions about "unification of Eastern and Western medical system", and "Integrative Medicine" in Korea will affect the identity issue of TKM.
