Medical professors urge exclusion of second vice health minister from talks

The coalition — a united front of emergency steering committees at medical schools — pointed out “discord” in the government’s response, viewing the minister as a hindrance in advancing the negotiations over the med school admissions quota hikes.

Bang Jae-seung, professor from Seoul National University Hospital and the head of a nationwide coalition of emergency committee at medical schools, speaks at a press conference on Saturday at Seoul National University Hospital in central Seoul. [NEWS1]

A nationwide medical professor’s coalition on Saturday urged the government to exclude Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo from the current dialogue between the medical sector and the government.

The coalition — a united front of emergency steering committees from 20 medical schools — pointed out “discord” in the government’s response, viewing Park as a hindrance in advancing the negotiations over the med school admissions quota hikes.

“Doctors and the government could resume the dialogue if Park, who only represented the government’s stance, steps back from media engagement,” said Bang Jae-seung, the head of the coalition and professor from Seoul National University Hospital.

“While Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said the conversation with representatives of doctors was ‘highly valuable and productive,’ Park has been blaming doctors in an extremely heightened tone.”

Han said the government would continuously pursue the talks by inviting more stakeholders from the medical sector after the meeting on Tuesday with the head of Seoul National University Hospital, Korea Association of Medical College and other presidents from universities with medical schools.

On Thursday, Park labeled the current standoff as a “contest between people and privileged class [attempting to use their power over people]” and dubbed the doctors’ demand to scrap a 2,000-seat hike in medical schools’ admissions “anti-intellectual” during a briefing.

Paramedics transport a patient to an emergency room at a general hospital in Daejeon on Sunday noon. [KIM SUNG-TAE]

Amid the prolonged walkout of junior doctors with no signs of returning, the professors' group said Saturday they will “reschedule their working hours” as they reached a “tipping point.”

Since junior doctors walked off from their hospitals, medical professors have shouldered an extra burden, taking double or weekend shifts to cover understaffed operations and medical services.

They said the rescheduling focuses more on essential medical treatment for critically ill and emergency patients.

“Starting from the first week of April, [the coalition] urges university hospitals to let the professors take a day off after working 24 hours straight on duty for the safety of patients and professors,” the group said. “Thus, medical appointments for outpatients and operations for patients with light symptoms will be affected.”

Striking junior doctors have been maneuvering ways to deal with the government’s back-to-work order, seeking intervention from the United Nations’ labor agency.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) on Thursday asked for the Korean government's opinion after a group representing Korea's junior doctors doubled down on its request for the agency’s intervention.

Seoul’s Labor Ministry said it plans to respond “vigorously” to the ILO’s letter, which was sent after the Korean Intern and Resident Association (KIRA) sent a petition to the ILO on March 13, calling the government’s order for striking doctors a violation of the Forced Labour Convention.

After the ILO’s initial dismissal on the grounds of ineligibility, the KIRA re-requested the agency’s intervention on March 15, explaining that it is the only Korean organization that represents junior doctors.

The Forced Labour Convention — one of the ILO’s eight fundamental conventions — defines forced labor as “all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the person has not offered himself voluntarily.”

The Labor Ministry said it plans to explain to the ILO that the government’s back-to-work order “is a legitimate measure to protect people’s lives and is thus an exception to the convention’s provisions.”

BY MICHAEL LEE, LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]