KMA "Responding to Executive License Suspension Administrative Lawsuit"... Government Plans to Issue Order Prohibiting Medical School Professors from Resigning

Ministry of Health and Welfare Suspends Kim Taek-woo and Park Myung-ha for 3 Months Starting April 15
KMA: "Will Treat Them as Full-Time Executives During License Suspension"

The first license suspension order has been issued against doctors opposing the increase of 2,000 medical school students, and it is expected that the government's administrative actions against the medical community will intensify.

On the 15th, Kim Taek-woo, the Emergency Committee Chairman of the Medical Association, appeared at the Public Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in Mapo-gu, Seoul, for police questioning.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The Ministry of Health and Welfare delivered a disposition to Kim Taek-woo, chairman of the Korean Medical Association (KMA) Emergency Committee, and Park Myung-ha, organizing chairman of the Emergency Committee, suspending their medical licenses for three months from June 15 to July 14 for violating the order prohibiting incitement of collective action. On May 27, the ministry filed complaints with the police against these two, along with Joo Soo-ho, KMA Emergency Committee Public Relations Chairman, Lim Hyun-taek, president of the Korean Pediatric Society, and Roh Hwan-gyu, former KMA president, on charges including violation of the order to commence work, obstruction of business under criminal law, incitement, and aiding and abetting.

The KMA strongly opposed the government's license suspension. Chairman Park Myung-ha stated, "We will challenge the unfairness of the license suspension through administrative litigation." Joo Soo-ho, KMA Emergency Committee Public Relations Chairman, said, "We will not reverse or compromise our position to lift the license suspensions of KMA executives." He added, "It was resolved early in the Emergency Committee that not only the Emergency Committee members but also general members who suffer economic difficulties due to license suspensions or other sanctions will be treated as full-time KMA executives during the suspension period."

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Welfare issued 'orders to commence work' to 1,308 residents who were confirmed not to have returned to their workplaces. However, resignation movements are spreading even to medical school professors, escalating the 'strong versus strong' confrontation. The Seoul National University College of Medicine Faculty Council Emergency Committee decided to submit resignation letters collectively on the 25th. Professors at Seoul National University College of Medicine will submit their resignation letters to the medical school Emergency Committee starting today, and the committee plans to compile and submit them collectively on the 25th.

A Ministry of Health and Welfare official said, "If medical school professors submit resignation letters, the same administrative measures as those applied to residents will be legally enforced," adding, "Since medical school professors are also doctors, orders to maintain medical services and prohibitions on accepting collective resignation letters will be issued."