Despite government appeasement to rescind executive order, doctors announce its plan to go on strike

Prime Minister Han Deok-soo leaves the briefing room after a briefing on healthcare reform at the Government Complex in Seoul, South Korea, on June 9. From left, Health and Welfare Minister Cho Kyu-hong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance Choi Sang-mok, Education Minister Lee Ju-ho, Prime Minister Han and Chief of Staff Bang Ki-seon. By Sung Dong-hoon

Despite the government‘s appeasement by rescinding its executive order relating to trainee doctors, the medical community and the government are increasingly at odds over the increase of medical school admissions for next year. In response to the Korea Medical Association (KMA)’s announcement of a collective strike on June 18, the government has called on the medical community to refrain from taking a leave of absence, emphasizing the message that there will be no penalty after returning to work.

On the 9th, the KMA announced its plans to take a collective break on the 18th at a meeting of representatives of national doctors held at the KMA building in Yongsan, Seoul. Initially, the association had planned to take a collective leave two days later on the 20th, but to increase the impact, it said it had moved up the date to begin collective action on the 17th, following the collective leave of the Emergency Plan Committee of Faculty at Seoul National University College of Medicine and Seoul National University Hospital. If the KMA goes on strike on the announced date, it will be the fourth “doctors’ strike” in history. The medical community has previously taken collective action against government proposals, such as the division of medicine (2000), the promotion of telemedicine (2014), and the increase in medical school admissions (2020). In a press conference, the KMA made it clear that the goal of the collective action is to demand the suspension of the process of increasing medical school admissions. “The purpose of the strike is not to take a rest, but to stop the government’s policy,” said Choi An-na, a spokesperson for the KMA, emphasizing that “the majority of members participated in the vote, and an overwhelming percentage of them, more than 90 percent, supported the strike.”

Lim Hyun-taek (L), president of the Korean Medical Association, and other medical professors, staff doctors and practitioners shout slogans condemning the government during the National Doctors‘ Congress at the Korea Medical Association Hall in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, June 9. By Jae-won Moon

However, it is unclear how high the participation rate will be. The KMA is an organization centered on practitioners, and its unity is weaker than that of trainee doctors. The participation rate was relatively high at about 33 percent only on the first day of the general strike conducted in August 2020 against the government’s policy of increasing medical school admissions. On the first day of the second strike on August 26, the absenteeism rate was 10.8 percent (3,549 hospitals), and on the following day, it was in the single digits at 8.9 percent (2,926 hospitals).

What is worrisome is that, despite the government‘s “appeasement” by rescinding the executive order, the hostile atmosphere against the government in the medical community is spreading. “The government’s policy is to suspend doctors’ licenses for three months if they act (against the government) again without removing the label attached to the trainee doctors who do not return to work or resign,” said Bang Jae-seung, a former emergency committee chairman of Seoul National University College of Medicine.

If collective leave of absence becomes visible, there is a possibility that the government will respond strongly according to the law. “Collective action is not desirable, and it won‘t make a difference,” said Jeon Byung-wang, head of the healthcare division at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, in a recent briefing. “If there is illegal collective action by practitioners, the government will take various necessary measures under the medical law and other laws to deal with it.” According to the medical law, the government and local governments can order medical institutions to continue and start work if the proportion of them in a region that have stopped practicing or are closed without a valid reason is 15 percent or less. If the government issues an order to commence work and practitioners refuse to do so without justifiable reasons, they could face up to three years in prison as well as suspension of license for up to one year.

However, as there is still some time before the announced collective leave of absence, the government expressed its regret to the medical community and emphasized its message to trainee doctors.

At a press conference held at the Government Complex in Seoul, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said, “The government will not let any anxiety to those who have returned to hospitals. I promise once again that there will be no disadvantages to those who return to work."

Patient groups have criticized the medical community’s growing atmosphere of going on collective action. The Korean Cancer Patients Rights Council, a group of six patient organizations, condemned the move in a statement, calling it “an act of extreme selfishness that pursues group interests at the expense of public health.”

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.