We cannot forgive the nonsensical ‘blacklist’

Without respect for others, nothing can be achieved.

The government has announced that it will sternly respond to a group of medical doctors who posted a blacklist of the names of their colleagues still working at emergency rooms at their hospitals. Such a menace against doctors — who are devoted to treating patients after the massive walkout seven months ago of trainee doctors to protest the government’s drastic decision to increase the medical school admissions quota for 2025 by 2,000 — has been repeatedly posted on the internet. Such a malicious threat to a group of doctors dedicated to treating emergency patients cannot be forgiven no matter what.

An internet site brazenly exposed personal information about emergency physicians who “faithfully comply with the government’s directive.” The site even ridiculed those doctors for “trying to help the government avoid a medical crisis during the Chuseok holiday.” That’s not all. The site also revealed the names of military doctors who were deployed to emergency rooms to help prevent a medical vacuum across the country.

Most doctors would oppose the government’s push for a drastic admissions quota hike. We can understand their antipathy towards the high-handedness of the presidential office and the Health Ministry. And yet, posing a direct threat to public health can never be pardoned. Their unabashed pressure on their colleagues directly translates into an attempt to paralyze ER rooms across the country. Even the Korean Medical Association (KMA) expressed deep concerns about the malevolent move.

Hospitals are running their emergency rooms with 73 percent of their previous emergency medicine doctors. Those doctors have struggled to save critically-ill patients despite the long and arduous work awaiting them. A professor of emergency medicine said, “If this situation is tough for me, I wouldn’t have chosen this field long ago.” The troublesome doctors should be ashamed of themselves.

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Tuesday announced a bold plan to more than triple the fee for diagnosing and treating critically-ill or emergency patients during the five-day Chuseok holidays next week. We welcome the announcement. But such a quick fix cannot last long. Given its responsibility for the ongoing medical crisis, the government must show the wisdom and patience to put the four-way consultative body, including the governing and opposition parties, back on track.

More than ten times the increased quota for medical colleges for 2025 have already applied for early admissions. The KMA must participate in the consultative body without sticking with its unrealistic demands. Without respect for others, nothing can be achieved.