Neo-confucianism is a broad term for a loose collection of philosophical ideas influenced by or based on the writings of Confucius, the Chinese philosopher. It strongly influenced the development of Korean society, and it was the official state ideology at one point. It is still very prevalent, although not always expressed explicitly.

So I live in South Korea. The medical system here is heavily subsidized and socialized. This makes it very cheap and (mostly) accessible, but the downside is the bureaucracy that comes with that. It is also a very litigious culture, which makes it worse. Doctors here are extremely wary to prescribe anything too strong, and they communicate very little with the patients. It’s just, “Trust me, I’m a doctor.” And of course the neo-confucian mindset is also very strong here, with all the rigid hierarchy that comes with it.