Nurses Marianne Stoeger (left) and Margaritha Pissarek (Korea Heritage Service) Medical tools used by two Austrian nurses during their decades of service to patients with Hansen’s disease on Sorokdo Island are being considered for designation as National Registered Cultural Heritage.The Korea Heritage Service said Friday that it signed a memorandum of understanding with Sorokdo National Hospital, the Marianne and Margaret Foundation, and Goheung County to preserve and promote the island’s cultural heritage and to pursue heritage registration for artifacts used by the nurses, Marianne Stoeger and Margaritha Pissarek.Located off South Korea’s southern coast, Sorokdo has a long history as a settlement for people with Hansen’s disease, who were subjected to decades of forced isolation before gradually regaining their rights.The two nurses spent more than 40 years caring for patients on the island. Their former residence was designated as National Registered Cultural Heritage in 2016 in recognition of their decades-long service.The medical and nursing tools they used were selected last year as Preliminary Cultural Heritage, a category introduced by the Korea Heritage Service for historically significant modern assets less than 50 years old. They were recognized for their value in Korea's modern medical history, human rights and social welfare.Stoeger and Pissarek came to Korea in the 1960s after being dispatched by the Damien Foundation, a Belgium-based nongovernmental organization that supports the treatment of leprosy and other infectious diseases.Even after their official service terms ended, they remained on the island as volunteers, continuing to care for patients. They returned to Austria in 2005 after their health deteriorated.