A N. Korean pharmacist waits for customers at traditional medicine pharmacy

Family members of a hospital patient bring a blanket and other items during a visit to Pyongyang Medical College in Pyongyang, North Korea on Feb. 21, 2013.

A pharmacist waits for customers at the Man Nyon Pharmacy, the nation’s largest dispensary of traditional “Koryo” medicine, in Pyongyang, North Korea on Feb. 21, 2013. North Korea began marrying traditional medicine with modern practice in the 1950s after the Korean War.

A jar containing a fat-preserved ginseng root believed to be a century old is seen at the Pyongyang Medical College in Pyongyang, North Korea on Feb. 21, 2013. Traditional medicine is used widely in many Asian countries, including China, Japan and South Korea, where there is no shortage of modern treatment and equipment. And while scientific research regarding the benefits of some age-old treatments is lacking, therapies such as massage and acupuncture – which can also serve as a local anesthetic – are now widely used in the West. <AP Photo/David Guttenfelder>