Largest doctors' group vows to fight on under new leadership following chief's impeachment

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Largest doctors' group vows to fight on under new leadership following chief's impeachment

Published: 22 Nov. 2024, 18:32

LEE SOO-JUNG
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Two doctors walk in the compound of a general hospital located in downtown Seoul on Friday. [NEWS1]

The nation’s largest doctors group said it would continue to strongly resist what it called the Yoon Suk Yeol administration’s irresponsible and reckless health policies under its new leadership, according to a statement released by the Korean Medical Association (KMA) on Friday.

On Thursday, an emergency steering committee of the KMA convened its first meeting since former chief Lim Hyun-taek was impeached. The occasion also appeared to signal reconciliation within the medical community because Park Dan — the Korean Intern Resident Association (KIRA)'s head who often clashed with Lim — joined the meeting as one of 14 committee members.

The committee agreed to urge the government to halt ongoing medical school admissions for the 2025 academic year.

The government increased medical schools' enrollment from 3,058 to 4,567 for the 2025 academic year.

“It is impossible to educate 6,000 to 7,500 students in an environment that used to educate 3,000 pupils,” the committee wrote. “If the government ignores this demand, the educational environment in medical schools will be destroyed, and consequences will last over a decade.”

The figure of 6,000 to 7,500 appears to include incoming classes for the following year and enrolled medical students who have boycotted classes to protest against the government.

Headquarters of the Korean Medical Association located in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on Nov. 8 [NEWS1]

The KMA emergency committee also said it "fully endorses" demands from KIRA and the Korean Medical Student Association and defended their “minimum” demands to normalize medical education and training.

Both groups demanded that the government scrap its health reform policies, including the medical school enrollment hike.

The KMA also wrote that its emergency steering committee will unite doctors across the board — junior doctors, medical students, medical professors and community doctors serving in private clinics — to “deter and fight against the government’s attempt to cripple the health care system.”

The KMA also criticized Yoon’s handling of the 10-month impasse with doctors, calling the president's behavior a “stalling tactic.”

“Starting next year, medical education will be crippled, and the situation will worsen as time passes,” the KMA wrote, adding that the government's proposals will also harm clinical training at hospitals.

The KMA committee said President Yoon, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong, Education Minister Lee Ju-ho and other presidential aides will be safely out of office when the health industry begins to suffer due to their health policies.

The KMA said neither negotiations nor compromise is an option and vowed to hold the abovementioned government officials accountable.

It also condemned both political parties, accusing the liberal Democratic Party of simply pretending to be an arbitrator. The KMA also likened the behavior of the conservative People Power Party to “criminal acts.”

The KMA will elect its new president in January next year.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG [[email protected]]