Representative of trainee doctors expresses regret at KMA’s decision

Park Dan, head of the Korean Intern Resident Association’s emergency measure committee. By Cho Tae-hyung

Park Dan, the head of the Korean Intern Resident Association (KIRA)’s emergency measure committee, expressed regret to Lim Hyun-taek, the president of the Korean Medical Association (KMA), and reaffirmed his intention not to participate in the pan-medical task force. There were expressions of embarrassment from within the medical community over the KMA’s declaration that it would go on indefinite leave from June 27, saying that it had not been informed in advance. The dissonance within the medical community has been publicly expressed.

"I express my regret to President Lim Hyun-taek in many ways," Park wrote on his social networking service (SNS) on the 19th. "I have not heard anything about the co-chairman of the pan-medical task force. Even if a pan-medical council is formed under the current circumstances, the KIRA has consistently expressed its position that it will not participate."

The KMA is planning to launch a pan-medical task force on June 20, which will play a pivotal role in the process of doctors' struggle against the government. The KMA said it offered Park the position of co-chairman of the task force alongside Lim.

"With no change in the government's stance, we believe that further dialogue is pointless," Park said, adding, "The three demands announced by the KMA are a clear retreat from the seven demands by the KIRA, and the KIRA’s emergency measure committee cannot agree to these demands."

The KIRA demanded the cancellation of the government’s essential medical care policy package and its plan to increase medical school admissions, the establishment of a body to scientifically estimate the supply and demand of doctors, joint discussions on increasing and reducing staffing, increased recruitment of specialists in training hospitals, concrete measures to alleviate the legal burden of medical accidents, improvement of the training environment for trainee doctors, withdrawal of unjust orders and an official apology to doctors, and the complete abolition of the order to commence work under Article 59 of the Medical Law.

Inside the medical community, divisions continue to emerge. Lee Dong-wook, president of the Gyeonggi-do Medical Association, also issued a statement titled, “"Regarding the announcement of the indefinite leave of absence” on the 27th, and said, "I, as well as the presidents of medical associations at 16 metropolitan cities, first heard about the indefinite leave of absence when Lim announced it at a rally in Yeouido." He added, "What members are puzzled and concerned about is that democratic legitimacy and procedural appropriateness of decision-making are not observed at all in Lim's affairs.”

"The KMA is not an arbitrary organization of Lim, but an official organization where the legitimacy of procedures and processes are important," Lee said. “The presidents and members at 16 cities are colleagues to be respected and worked with, not pawns in Lim’s chessboard.”

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