Largest doctors' group pulls plug on joint committee

Korean Medical Association's headquarters in Yongsan-gu, central Seoul (Newsis)

South Korea's largest doctors' group said Wednesday that it has decided to pull the plug on a joint committee launched last month to take unified action against the government's planned medical school expansion, after other groups called on it to disband.

The Korean Medical Association issued a statement stating that the committee would cease operations after Friday, when its forum to discuss how to salvage the country's health care is scheduled to take place.

"The decision was made after reviewing the opinions of junior doctors and going through careful consideration," the statement read.

Park Dan, the head of the Korean Intern Resident Association's emergency committee, reportedly attended a meeting held at the KMA last week and suggested the committee's disbandment, according to reports.

The KMA's pan-alliance committee was launched on June 20 to represent the voices of the medical community in different positions as they struggled to come up with a unified proposal on the number of medical school places and future course of action to oppose the government's plans to increase them.

The 14-member committee includes medical professors, community doctors, junior doctors and students and has since conducted four meetings.

However, trainee doctors and medical students have boycotted the committee in a show of protest against the KMA and its head, Lim Hyun-taek. The KMA chief is known for his hawkish stance, but junior doctors say his association has done little to alleviate their grievances with the governments.

Last week, an association of metropolitan and provincial doctors also called on the KMA to dissolve the committee, as it failed to "function properly" due to the absence of junior doctors and medical students.

Instead, the association noted that the KMA should "pour all its capabilities" into helping KIRA and the Korea Association of Medical Colleges fight against the government's medical policies.

By Park Jun-hee(junheee@heraldcorp.com)