List doxxing junior doctors who have returned to work released on social media

Social Affairs

Published: 12 Jul. 2024, 15:56 Updated: 12 Jul. 2024, 16:02

List doxxing junior doctors who have returned to work released on social media

A doctor walks inside a hospital in downtown Seoul on Friday. [YONHAP]

A list of junior doctors, medical students and fellows who allegedly have resumed work and studies was shared through a Telegram chatroom on Thursday in an apparent bid to shame them.

According to medical sources on Friday, the chatroom host referred to those mentioned on the list as "thankful" doctors and students, sarcastically expressing their gratitude to them for being at work amid the lingering tension between the government and medical professionals. The chatroom was created on Sunday.

The list included personal information, such as names, schools, hospitals and years of work experience, of junior doctors, medical students and fellows who are presumed to have withdrawn from the walkout.

“This channel was created to share the list of doctors and medical students who are dedicating themselves to their medical duties for the sake of patients, in accordance with the wishes of the health minister, even in this situation,” the chatroom host announced. The creator of the list added that since the identities of these individuals were unknown, they decided to publish the list to express their appreciation.

The chatroom host added that an additional list of those returning to hospitals in September will be shared so that they can be “properly thanked.”

On Monday, the government announced it would not impose administrative penalties on striking doctors and would allow junior doctors who resigned to resume their training in September. They also agreed to convene exams for medical specialty licenses twice a year to help junior doctors avoid significant career delays.

Similar blacklists of trainee doctors and fellows previously appeared on an online community in March, mockingly describing them as the “real doctors.” The lists reappeared last month despite the Ministry of Health and Welfare's request for a police investigation into the uploader.

Starting Friday, the Korea University Medical Center began reducing its services to protest the government’s decision to increase the medical school enrollment quota, following Severance Hospital and Seoul Asan Hospital. Medical professors at the center have begun taking voluntary breaks while continuing treatments for urgent and critical patients.

A day earlier, the top five major training hospitals in Seoul — Seoul National University Hospital, Severance Hospital, Samsung Medical Center, Asan Medical Center and Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital — told junior doctors through text message to report their decision to resign or return by Monday. After Monday, striking junior doctors who intend not to return are expected to have their resignations processed.

The announcement came as the government requested training hospitals confirm the number of vacant spots after processing the doctors’ resignations by Monday, ahead of recruitment for the fall semester on July 22.

According to the Health Ministry, 1,096 of 13,756 junior doctors, or eight percent, at 211 training hospitals were at work as of Wednesday.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]