Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

Ministry of National Defense awards three military men of merit for their response to COVID-19

Development of pooling method, self-diagnosis app, and test kit first patented in Korea

Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo invited Major Jang Hae-bong, Captain Heo Jun-nyeong, Doctor No Gyeong-tae into the ministry to praise their hard work, saying “You are proud men of ability who protected the lives of the people”

On May 6, Minister of National Defense Jeong Kyeong-doo invited the men of merit who responded to the 2019 coronavirus (COVID-19) into the ministry to award and praise them for their hard work.

The event was attended by three men of merit, including Captain Heo Jun-nyeong, a military surgeon from the Armed Forces Medical Command, who developed a COVID-19 self-diagnosis application (app); Major Jang Hae-bong from the Military Medical Research Institute, who proposed a “pooling method” capable of examining multiple samples at once; and Doctor No Gyeong-tae from the Military Medical Research Institute, who developed the first COVID-19 test kit (Kit) to be patented in Korea.

Captain Heo’s COVID-19 CheckUp app helps users who suspect they may have symptoms of coronavirus infection to self-check their health and determine whether they need to go to a screening center or health center by entering their symptoms. The app enables users to check their symptoms objectively, easily and speedily. When the degree of risk exceeds a certain level, the App helps to reduce the workload of medical staff with its message service to recommend an in-depth examination at a screening center.

This app has received attention from around the world, with over half of the users based outside of Korea. As of the end of April, 240,000 had downloaded the app.

Captain Jang’s pooling method is a method of examining multiple samples at once by combining the collected samples. The method was proposed to more effectively perform COVID-19 tests on the soldiers admitted to Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province.

The method has greatly increased efficiency by enabling the test results of 4 persons to be confirmed through one test, rather than performing separate tests on individual samples. The Korean Society for Laboratory Medicine verified that the method is useful for screening tests by combining up to ten samples into one. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) also announced that it would use the method while carrying out mass screenings in the community, further confirmation of the usefulness of the method has been recognized.

It is expected that Doctor No’s COVID-19 diagnostic method making use of a loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) technology will be greatly helpful in managing infected people, as it can shorten the test time from 5-6 hours to 2-3 hours, compared to the real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) that is known as a standard diagnostic test.

The method has gone through patent registration and technology transfer, and the ministry is proceeding with approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the exportation of the method.

“You are proud men of ability in the military, who have shown a willingness to help us overcome COVID-19 and a direction forward, while faithfully carrying out your duty as military men to protect the lives and properties of the people,” said Minister Jeong, asking them to continue to do their best in their duties in order to protect the lives of the people and help the world overcome the COVID-19 crisis.

By Byeong-No, Yun <trylover@dema.mil.kr >
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