[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] As rumors spread online about Cho Min, daughter of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, passing the final medical licensing examination, heated debates have erupted over the issue.
Last year's second half practical exam saw over 2,800 medical students largely refusing to take the test, resulting in a pass rate of only 12.8%. However, news that Cho Min took the exam and passed has sparked controversy across various circles.
On the 17th, a post claiming that Cho Min had passed the final medical licensing exam was uploaded on a pro-government online community.
On the Facebook page "Democratic Party 1 Million Members Gathering," a post read, "Minister Cho Kuk's daughter Cho Min passed the medical licensing exam, a great achievement proven fairly and squarely by her ability."
While supporters have posted congratulatory messages online, critical comments have also continued.
Professor Seo Min of Dankook University College of Medicine posted on his blog titled "The Grim Reaper Cho Min is Coming," expressing concern that "once a medical license is obtained, it lasts a lifetime."
Professor Seo said, "Even though the pass rate for medical licensing exams in our country approaches 95%, we expected that the 5% who did not study during their school years would be filtered out. Unfortunately, this hope has also been shattered, and there is no way to prevent Cho Min from seeing patients."
Im Hyun-taek, president of the Korean Pediatric Society, cited cases such as the admission fraud involving Choi Soon-sil's daughter Jung Yoo-ra, the exam question leak involving the twin daughters of the head of the Sookmyung Girls' High School faculty, and ghostwriting of papers for children of a professor at Sungkyunkwan University College of Pharmacy, stating, "I am so angry and appalled that I want to tear up the medical license and white coat."
Meanwhile, on the 24th of last month, the Korean Pediatric Society filed an injunction with the court requesting the suspension of the validity of Cho Min's written medical licensing exam application, but the court dismissed the request.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
