Former South Korean President Park Geun-hye arrives for her trial at the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, South Korea, May 23, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] SEOUL - Ousted South Korean President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday appeared in a Seoul court for her first hearing over a set of corruption charges. Park, handcuffed and in a dark blue suit, appeared in the Seoul Central District Court for her trial on a total of 18 criminal charges including bribery, abuse of power, extortion and the leakage of government secrets. It was her first public appearance since she was taken into custody on March 31. The constitutional court upheld the bill to impeach Park on March 10. The first hearing began at about 10:00 am local time (0100 GMT) and was presided over by three judges, including the one who is in charge of the case of Choi Soon-sil, Park's longtime confidante who is also in custody and is at the center of the corruption scandal. Park and Choi were identified by prosecutors as criminal accomplice. They were charged with taking bribes worth about 59.2 billion won (52 million US dollars) from large conglomerates including Samsung, Lotte and SK. Choi and Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin also appeared at the court to stand trial together with Park. If convicted for the bribery charge, Park would face at least 10 years in prison. Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, the de-facto leader of Samsung Group, has already stood trial as he was indicted in February. 1 inch wide rubber bandsrubber bracelets ukpac wristbandsblack rubber wristbandsprinted wristbands
National association sees great potential for improved servicesA national association was set up on Saturday to promote the integration of artificial intelligence technology with medical care to improve services.The Chinese Intelligent Medicine Association will provide a platform for research, exchange and cooperation in intelligent medicine, Zhang Yanling, president of Chinese Medical Doctor Association, which supervises the new association, said at its inauguration ceremony on Saturday.While promoting the use of AI in medicine, the association will also assist the government in formulating standards and regulations for the development of intelligent medicine, which is still at its infancy, he said.Intelligent medicine will profoundly transform the medical care sector, and may bring great benefits to both patients and doctors, Zhang said, adding that 124 hospitals have practiced intelligent medicine in China."Intelligent medicine involves utilization of the latest technologies, including the internet, big data and artificial intelligence," said Dong Jiahong, president of the new association. "Developing intelligent medicine is of great importance in achieving more balanced distribution of healthcare resources, improving quality of medical care, efficiency and lower cost."Chen Xiaoming, president of First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, said a big challenge in developing intelligent medicine in China is a serious shortage of talented people who excel in both medicine and information technology."Universities should strengthen education and production of people who excel in both medicine and AI," he said. "Doctors and IT researchers at enterprises should work together to breed such talent."Lin Haotian, a professor in the Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center at Sun Yat-sen University, said doctors should play a more important role in developing intelligent medicine because they work for patients and know their needs best."But doctors at big hospitals are usually too busy, and cannot find enough time for research," he said. "They need more support from the hospitals."As with many other sectors, the latest big data and AI technologies are increasingly being integrated with the health sector.The ophthalmic center in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, for example, opened the first AI clinic in China last year to diagnose cataracts with the help of an AI-assisted platform.In a clinic at the center, images of patients' eyes are uploaded to the platform, and a diagnosis can be given within minutes. Treatment plans are also offered for doctors' reference. The accuracy of the AI diagnoses exceeds 90 percent, the hospital said.Watson for Oncology, a cognitive computing platform designed by US company IBM can provide treatment options to commonly seen cancers. It has been used at 65 big hospitals in 39 cities in China, according to Fu Gang, chairman of Baheal Pharm, which introduced the system to the country last year.The system is expected to be used at more grassroots hospitals to help improve cancer diagnoses, he said.In a guideline released by the central government late last month that aims to promote the development of "Internet Plus healthcare", some major areas of focus were highlighted, including promoting the integration of internet technologies in medical care, public health, medicine teaching and medicine supply.Accelerating development of the "Internet Plus healthcare" platform is expected to bring more benefits to patients, including extending the coverage of high quality healthcare services, which is now highly concentrated in big cities, to more people, according to the guideline.
